You Call Me A Bitch Like It's A Bad Thing
by Pirate-x-Girls
Summary: "Maybe you deserved a chance to prove the rumours about you are wrong." "Did it ever occur to you that maybe the rumours are there for a good reason? Maybe I'm everything they say I am." Everyone thinks Beca Mithchell is a bitch and that suits her fine, choosing to keep the world at arms length. Can a certain redhead pull her out of the shadow of her broken past?
1. Chapter 1

**So this idea came to me when I was sat at work listening to the song _You Call Me a Bitch Like it's a Bad Thing_ by Halestorm, in fact the story has grown around a few songs on their albums which I suggest people go and check out because they are awesome! After writing a Beca/Chloe oneshot earlier this week I was eager to get stuck into this story as quickly as possible and this chapter materialized very quickly so I thought I'd publish it and see what you guys thought. **

**So without further ado I present Chapter 1! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: all characters and familiar settings belong to Universal, I'm just playing around with them for my own, and hopefully your, pleasure!**

* * *

 **You Call Me a Bitch Like it's a Bad Thing**

 **Chapter 1**

 _You call me a bitch like it's a bad thing,_

 _You call me a freak like that means something_

 _Can't get your way so you're sulking_

 _I think we know the rest_

 _Get it off your chest_

 _I don't give a shit_

 _I love it when you call me a bitch like it's a bad thing_

Beca Mitchell was a bitch. Everyone knew it. The small brunette was infamous around Barden University Campus; this was partly due to her being the daughter of Dr Mitchell, comparative literature professor and one of the most respected at the university. It was no secret to the student population that Dr Mitchell and his daughter had a strained relationship, there had been many instances where students had gone to speak to Dr Mitchell, opened his office door only to be confronted with their professor shouting at his daughter who was more often than not shouting back, rearing up on the balls of her feet like an angry snake. Their arguments, what little people heard before they were forced to retreat for fear of having the young woman throw something at them, seemed to revolve mostly around music, Beca Mitchell liked to DJ, a hobby not appreciated by her father.

Beca Mitchell didn't just argue with her father, she argued with her professors, she argued with her fellow students. There were very few people who had come into contact with the feisty brunette who hadn't come away without a verbal lashing, in the year she had been at Barden she now had a reputation that preceded her wherever she went, don't engage Beca Mitchell in conversation unless you were willing to get your head bitten off.

The other reason Beca Mitchell was infamous was the women, ever since she had arrived at Barden University the brunette had made no secret of the fact that she liked women, and she was despite her reputation very popular with them. Not a week went by without another story cropping up of a girl who had succumbed to the charms of the young DJ, and woken up the next morning to find a cold space in the bed next to them, no girl seemed to have ever held her attention for longer than a few days at most. Surprisingly it seemed that Beca could be charming when she wanted to be, but it was clear that this nice act lasted long enough to get girls into bed before it disappeared as quickly as it had arrived.

Despite all the talk about Beca Mitchell on campus there were very few people who knew anything more than rumours, for the most part she kept herself to herself, interacting with very few people on a regular basis. Her friends were few and far between and any that were could never be coerced into saying anything about their friend, it was probably this that made people so interested in Beca Mitchell.

XXXXXX

"You promised!" Dr Mitchell sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes before planting his hands down on his desk. Across the desk his daughter glared back at him, the scowl more pronounced by the thick line of black eyeliner that ringed her eyes.

"I've kept my promise!" Beca replied haughtily. "I've stuck it out at this stupid college for a whole fucking year!"

"Watch your language." Dr Mitchell warned, Beca rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest in a show of defiance that he had been seeing in her since she was five years old. "You have barely scraped by this year, our deal did not include you getting into regular arguments with your teachers, minimum pass grades in your work, not to mention the women."

"The women?" Beca arched an eyebrow and tapped her foot on the ground softly, a warning sign that her anger levels were rising.

"I hear things." Warren said, seeing his daughter bristle he changed his tack. "But that's not what we're talking about here, our deal also included you joining a club. Only when you've done a year of that would I let you swan off to LA." He stared his daughter down as she met his gaze with a steely one of her own.

"Why do I have to do this?!" Beca demanded, throwing her hands out. "I know what it is I want to be doing, and trust me it's not sitting in a stuffy lecture theatre listening to some poxy professor drone on about something that I quite frankly don't give a damn about."

This time it was her father's turn to bristle. "Just because you have no interest in academia does not give you the right to belittle my career." He pointed at his chest for emphasis.

"If you know I have no interest in academia then why are you pushing for me to get this degree?! And join a stupid club."

"Because you need to integrate." Her father replied coming round the desk. "You haven't made any effort to get to know people since…" he stopped at the look the Beca gave him, a glare so cold that he almost felt his heart freeze.

"We are _not_ talking about that. I. Am. Fine." She emphasised the last three words with cold, clear precision. Her father opened her mouth but Beca spoke up, cutting him off. "No, you don't get to be a shit father for years and then try and care because you feel guilty."

"Fine." Dr Mitchell could feel the anger rising in him at his daughter's stubbornness. "But you will join a club, and you will stick with it at least until the end of this year, or you can kiss LA goodbye." He drew himself up to his full height and returned Beca's cold glare with one of his own. "I will cut you off, and trust me you won't get far without money." The threat was the most extreme he had ever thrown at her, but he was desperate and was clasping at straws to keep his daughter with him, even though he knew she had been slipping away from him for years. Beca's scowl deepened and for a moment he thought that she was going to argue some more.

Instead she appeared to bite her tongue. "Fine." She said finally, her tone flat and emotionless. Without another word she turned on her heel and marched from the room, slamming the door so hard that the glass pane rattled in its frame. Dr Mitchell watched her go, the cold look in his eyes fading to be replaced by a look of longing, a longing for the little girl who had disappeared many years ago.

* * *

"Can you fucking believe him?!" Beca fumed, slamming a CD so hard into its slot on the shelf she heard the case crack. On the other side of the shelves Jesse raised his eyebrows as she slotted his own CD into its place with extra care. "I mean, I've done everything he wanted, I came to this stupid college, I've stuck it out for a year, what good is joining a stupid club going to do?!" Beca continued her rant, moving to another set of shelves, rattling the CD's in frustration.

"Aren't you going to say anything?!" Beca's demanded, leaning round the shelves to scowl at her best friend.

"I've been waiting for you to take a breath so I can get a word in edgeways, but apparently you don't need air to breathe anymore, so I was just waiting until the end of time for my turn to speak." He didn't look up from stacking, but he knew that Beca's scowl had deepened and she was more than likely flipping him off. "What's so bad about joining a club anyway?" he asked, slotting the last CD onto the shelf and moving to lean against the shelf where Beca was working. "You joined the radio station."

"I don't have to see or talk to anyone at the radio station. Except you."

"You flatter me." Jesse fluttered his eyelashes and placed a hand over his heart. Beca shot him a look that with anyone else would have sent them scurrying away, but Jesse only laughed and leaning over pushed her shoulder with one hand. "You can't surely be this angry just because he asked you to join a club? What else happened?"

Beca pursed her mouth. "He tried to talk about _it_ again today." She replied finally, voice low. Jesse's expression shifted from laughter to concern instantly and reaching out he laid a hand on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze. Beca tolerated the contact for little over three seconds before she shrugged him off, Jesse moved away, unfazed by the brunette's sharpness.

Jesse had been the first person that Beca had met when she arrived at Barden, or more appropriately bumped into. She had been walking through the quad, lost in a new song for a mix that she was working on when she had collided with Jesse, who had been coming in the other direction, equally as lost in a video he was watching on his phone, said phone had gone flying out of his face and unfortunately for him, smacked Beca in the face.

The look the small brunette had levelled at him had turned him cold from the inside out and he had stammered out an apology. Fortunately for him Beca was late to a meeting with her father, so she had to make do with just growling at him throwing one last dark look his way and storming off, leaving the young man looking after her not sure whether he was terrified of the small bundle of anger, or intrigued.

The pair had run into each other again that very night at a party that Beca had been forced into going to with some of the people in her dormitory, if she'd have had her own way she'd have been in her room, working on her laptop, but she had promised her father that she would try and socialise at least once. So that was how she found herself standing in the corner of a room, surrounded by drunk college freshman, sipping at a bottle of beer, she had been perfectly content to spend another hour standing where she was before sneaking out and heading home when one of the drunk freshman had broken away from the pack and come to lean against the wall next to her.

Jesse had been very eager to make up for his earlier slip up, apologising profusely to the silent girl who still said nothing, but just regarded him with an arched eyebrow, waiting for him to stop babbling, which he did eventually. Luckily for him she had decided that she should try and interact with at least one person that night so she humoured his attempts at conversation, listening to him wax lyrical about how he wanted to score movies for a living. She had learnt years ago the art of nodding in all the right places and making all the appropriate noises, and because of this two hours had passed before Beca had a chance to even think about getting away.

Unfortunately for Jesse the amount of alcohol he had consumed meant that his senses weren't as sharp as they might have been, as such he wasn't able to realise that Beca was not quite as interested in what he had to say as he thought she was. It also contributed to his very misguided attempt to try and kiss her.

That was when Beca had punched him in the face.

She had apologised, a rare event in itself, but that hadn't happened until the next day when she'd had time to calm down, she'd tracked him down outside one of his classes to apologise, he'd looked terrified to see her and she couldn't blame him, his eye had already turned a nasty shade of purple and for a moment Beca had actually felt bad. He had accepted her apology with grace, shrugging it off by complementing her right hook, and it was in that moment that a friendship had formed, the first Beca had had in a long time.

Beca finished sorting through her stack of CD's and hoisted herself up onto one of the tables in the radio studio, Jesse leant next to her watching her carefully. "Do you want to…?"

"No I don't want to talk about it." Beca cut him off, not unkindly. "I just want to get this year over with so I can be away from here." She took a deep breath. "And apparently that means I have to join a club."

* * *

"This is a 'travesty'!" Chloe sang the last word of her sentence as she looked round the packed quad, ignoring the look of annoyance that Aubrey shot her way.

"Just take the dramatics down a notch." Aubrey's own voice gave away her nervousness and she walked round the table and thrust another flyer into a girls face as she walked past. Chloe followed her, wincing as Aubrey apologised to the girl, who had almost fallen over in her attempt to get away from the Bella's captain.

"It's going to be fine," Aubrey reassured her. "I am confident that we will find eight super-hot girls with bikini ready bodies who can harmonize and have perfect pitch." Another two girls passed without even so much as glancing at the piece of paper that Aubrey shook at them, huffing in annoyance she stuffed the flyers on Chloe's clipboard muttering. "Just keep flyering, we have tradition to uphold."

"How about we just get good singers?" Chloe asked, and immediately wished she hadn't when Aubrey launched into another lecture about what makes a 'true Bella'.

* * *

Beca hadn't bother to attend the Barden University activities fair in her first year, she had been much more interested in the blonde she had picked up at a bar the night before who had just pulled her into the shower to be bothered about something so trivial. Now as she walked across the grass casting lazy glances at the different stalls that were trying to get her attention she stood by her decision of the year before, only this year she had no choice. There had to be something here that she could join, something that would allow her to put in minimal effort but would keep her father off her back for the whole year until she could escape.

Ten minutes later and after a mildly embarrassing run in with the 'Barden DJ's' Beca decided that she'd had enough of the activities fair. "God I need a drink." She mumbled, running a hand through her hair.

* * *

Chloe's bright blue eyes scanned the quad, trying to spot girls who fitted Aubrey's version of a perfect 'Bella', there were plenty who had the body and the looks, but whether or not they had the voice was a different story. Chloe prided herself on her upbeat nature and not allowing herself to be intimidated by a challenge, she wouldn't have survived any time with Alice, the previous captain of the Bella's if she did, but even Chloe was daunted by the uphill struggle that faced the Bella's. After Aubrey's little 'incident' as she insisted it be called, they were the laughing stock of the a cappella world with little chance of rebuilding their reputation if they couldn't find any girls to replace the ones who had graduated.

Scratching her head the redhead allowed a small frown to crease her forehead between her eyes as she listened to Aubrey pitch the Bella's to another group of girls who were having a hard time restraining their giggles. Chloe waited for Aubrey to cotton on that the girls were messing with her before she grabbed her best friend's elbow and tugged her back to the table. "We are floundering here." She whispered. "How many do we have signed up?"

"Apart from Fat Amy?!" Aubrey snorted, her disdain for the odd Tasmanian who had shown up just a few minutes earlier apparent. "We're going to need an aca-miracle." She muttered, wringing her hands together. Desperate to stop the motion Chloe grabbed the blonde's hand and forced her to make eye contact.

"We are going to be fine." She said slowly, holding the other girls gaze until she calmed down and nodded. Letting Aubrey's hands drop Chloe went back to her scan of the quad, and that was when her eyes zeroed in on a figure stomping down the path towards them. "What about her?" she asked nudging Aubrey. The blonde followed her line of sight, shaking her head vehemently the moment she realised who it was that Chloe was looking at.

"Absolutely not!" she barked sharply. "Do you know who that is?!" Chloe looked up at her friend, baby blue eyes widening with an innocent look that didn't fool Aubrey Posen for a second.

"Chloe Beale, you know exactly who that is, and we do not need the likes of her on the Bella's."

"You're the one who said we needed a miracle." Chloe beamed, skipping away before Aubrey could pull her back.

"Chloe! Get back here!" Chloe ignored Aubrey's hissed command and continued towards the girl who was about to draw level with their table.

* * *

Beca was about to pull her headphones up and lose herself in music on the way back to her dorm when a hand closed round her wrist and pulled her non too gently to one side.

"What the fuck?!" Beca spluttered as she tried to pry her wrist free, but whoever had hold of her had a strong grip. Suddenly Beca found herself coming to such an abrupt stop that she crashed into a warm body, looking up her eyes found eyes blue as sapphires staring at her, sparkling excitedly. Beca did a double take as she focused and saw a very pretty redhead grinning at her. Next to her was a blonde who looked like Beca was some shit she had just had to scrape off the bottom of her shoe.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Beca demanded. The blonde sent a glance to the redhead, a glance that said she was asking exactly the same question. The redhead didn't seem phased by either of the glares that were being sent her way.

"Hi!" she said brightly. "Any interest in joining our a cappella group?" Beca felt her eyebrows shoot skyward and she couldn't help the dry chuckle that slipped past her lips. The redhead looked confused at her response and Beca swallowed her next laugh.

"I'm sorry you're being serious? A cappella is a thing now."

As her blonde friend sneered, the redhead nodded enthusiastically "Totes! We sing covers of songs but do it without any instruments." She pointed to her lips. "It all comes from our mouths." Beca's eyebrows rose higher still as she bit her lip and nodded her head slightly, biting back the scathing comment that had formed immediately about more productive things the cute redhead could do with her mouth.

"Wow." Was all she could manage. Feeling a slight pressure on her wrist Beca glanced down and saw that the redhead still had hold of her wrist. Beca never usually allowed people to touch her for this long unless she was in bed with them, looking down at her wrist and then back up at the redhead she raised her eyebrows slightly.

"Oh." The girl giggled, a not altogether unpleasant noise Beca noted and let go of Beca's wrist, the motion exposing the tattoo on her wrist. "Hey! I have a tattoo!" she grinned, Beca looked over the girl, noting that her arms, which were exposed by her blue sundress had no tattoos and neither did her legs.

"Oh yeah," she said. "You'll have to show it to me sometime." She smirked as a blush coloured the redhead's cheeks, confirming her guess that the tattoo was hidden somewhere private.

"I sorta went through a punk phase." The redhead shrugged. "I listened to a _lot_ of Evanescence." She nodded her head and smiled at Beca like they were suddenly kindred spirits. Beca's wasn't given time to react to this before the girl had blurted out. "So are you interested?"

Beca knew the blonde was watching her, she could practically hear the girl's internal scream at Beca to leave. "Err. No, I don't think so. It seems pretty lame." She sneered.

"Aca-scuse me!" The blonde had finally snapped and stepped forward pushing the redhead out of the way. "Synchronised lady dancing to a 'Mariah Carey' chart topper is not lame!" The blonde said fiercely stopping within a foot of Beca and jabbing her in the chest with a long thin index finger.

"We sing all over the world and compete in national championships!" The redhead chimed in.

"We played the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre you bitch!" the blonde seethed, jabbing Beca again in the chest for emphasis.

"Is that supposed to impress me?" Beca replied. "Because it still sounds lame."

"What Aubrey is trying to say," the redhead said placing a hand on her friend's arm. The blonde looked like she was about to scratch Beca's eyes out. "Is that we're a close-knit talented group of ladies who's dream is to return to the national finals at the Lincoln Centre."

"There just two of you in your tight-knight group, or there more waiting under the table to pop out and ambush poor passers-by?" Beca asked. The redhead laughed at her words, whilst the blonde bristled.

"Help us turn our dreams into reality?" the redhead spoke without addressing the question and the smile she gave Beca was brighter than anything Beca had ever seen on a human being before and it took her a little by surprise, this was the smile of a girl who was used to people falling for her charms.

"Sorry I've used up my quota of dream making skills today." She said dryly. The smile on the redhead's face dimmed slightly and Beca could have sworn that her bottom lip was going to start trembling. The blonde, Aubrey, had stepped up again, eyes blazing.

"If you're going to just make fun of us then you can just…go away." She hissed. Beca studied her face, and then it dawned on her.

"Hey I know you!" she grinned and pointed at Aubrey. "You're the girl who projectile vomited all over an audience at a performance aren't you?" At her words the blonde's face drained of colour "You are!" Beca crowed. "I saw that video, very good blondie, nothing like a bit of projectile vomit to get a crowd on their feet, shame they were heading for the door." She chuckled. Aubrey stepped forward her mask slipping allowing her face to contort into a snarl.

"No listen here…" she growled but again the redhead stepped up and cut her off.

"Yes! That was her, but it's a new year and we need new Bella's!" she said brightly. "So come to our audition?" she looked to Beca, ignoring the outraged squeak that burst from Aubrey next to her.

"Sorry I'm not really a singer, and…pretty sure I'm going to be doing…something that day." Beca said walking backwards, the redhead looked like she was going to protest but Aubrey pulled her back to the table whispering fiercely in her ear. Beca rolled her eyes and headed off back towards her dorm, ready to lose herself in music and forget about the fact that she still needed to find a club to join.

* * *

"Beca Mitchell?!" Chloe winced as Aubrey's screech pierced the silence of their living room. "Have you lost your damn mind?! You did not just try and recruit Beca Mitchell to the Bella's!" Chloe sat demurely on the sofa as the captain of the Bella's paced up and down in front of her, arms waving around as she ranted and raved, the phrase 'insufferable midget' and 'ear monstrosities' had come up more than once. Several times in the last few minutes the blonde had swallowed hard and Chloe was mentally preparing herself for another 'incident'.

"We needed people Bree, and I heard that she's into music so I thought that you know, she might sing." Chloe shrugged her explanation as Aubrey fixed her with an expectant stare.

"Oh yes, I'm sure Beca 'bitch of Barden' Mitchell would love to come and sing with us!" Aubrey said sarcastically resuming her pacing and heavy swallowing.

"Bree, if you're gonna be sick do you wanna head to the…"

"I am not going to be sick!" Aubrey rounded on her best friend causing Chloe to put her hands up in surrender and divert her eyes to the floor. "You need to get it together Chlo, I can't have any mistakes this year, it needs to be _perfect_." The blonde stressed the last word whilst locking eyes with Chloe. " _Perfect_."

"I get it!" Chloe said. Aubrey folded her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes.

"You had better."

Later that evening after Aubrey had finished her rant and had retreated to lie in a darkened room with a cup of mint tea. Chloe lay sprawled out on the sofa staring up at the ceiling thinking about the rude brunette who had got her best friend so riled up.

Chloe had recognised Beca Mitchell immediately; it was hard not too when most people on campus knew her by reputation alone. The general consensus was that Beca was as hard as nails with a personality to match, a bitch. Aubrey had never liked the brunette and Chloe was sure that her best friend had pointed her out before with a snide comment, not that she tended to listen to Aubrey ranting about other people. Chloe had a philosophy that she never made a judgement about a person until he had had at least three conversations with them, this was something she had learnt from her mother who had instilled a great sense of respect for other people in her daughter.

Chloe for her part was fascinated by the brunette, and their first meeting had not answered any of her questions, if anything it had left her with more. The girl who Chloe had met, whilst she had been surly, blunt and at times downright rude, did not seem to fit the picture that the rumours of Barden had built of her. Chloe was still convinced that Beca could sing, she had said as much to Aubrey when they had returned to their flat, the blonde had rounded on her so fast that Chloe was convinced she had whiplash, fury flashing in her eyes as she demanded to know what Chloe was talking about. Chloe had shrugged and just said that she felt it in her bones, this was not the right thing to say to Aubrey who had snorted derisively saying that the Bella's did not work with 'bone feelings'.

As Chloe got ready for bed a half an hour later she resolved that she would find a way to discover whether or not Beca Mitchell could sing. Whatever it took.

* * *

Beca had pushed the encounter with the two Barden Bella's from her mind pretty quickly, classes had started up again and with her father's threat hanging over her head Beca had little choice but to attend.

She spent most of her classes that week half-listening to what her lecturers had to say, her mind was back in her room, in front of her computer screen, working on the new mixes that had sprung up almost overnight, Beca could not pinpoint where the surge in creativity had come from but she had learnt never to question where motivation came from, and was happy to challenge her anger at her father and Barden university into her music.

She had yet to join a club and whilst her father had backed off after their last argument, unwilling to butt heads with her further, Beca knew it was only a matter of time before the topic was revisited, she had no doubts that he would follow through with his threat to cut her off, her stubbornness had come from him, and whilst Beca had looked at some of the flyers that were dotted around the campus there had been nothing yet that jumped out at her.

The brunette was pondering the problem one night a week after the activities fair as she trudged down the corridor to the shower, her neck was stiff from having spent all afternoon sat staring at her laptop, so even though it was nearly midnight she had decided that a shower would help wash away the tension.

As she turned the corner to into shower room Beca found the words of the song she had been mixing only a few minutes before taking over her thoughts, she had been struggling to find a way to successfully incorporate the song into her latest mix so to help her think she began to sing a few bars, needing to hear the song out loud to better visualise its place. Hanging up her dressing gown and stepping into the shower she reached out and turned the water on, groaning softly as the water hit her aching neck. Hitting the chorus, she allowed her voice to rise until it echoed softly around the room, safe in the knowledge that she was alone.

"You can sing!" a voice behind her caused Beca to spin round wildly, focusing for the second time in as many days on a pair of bright blue eyes, her feet slipped on the wet floor and she only just remained on her feet.

"Dude!" reaching out she pulled the shower curtain across, only to have it unceremoniously ripped to the side as the bubbly redhead from the activities fair stepped into the shower cubicle.

"How high does your belt go?" The girl carried on, stepping forward again. Beca was struck dumb, her brain furiously trying to comprehend what was going on, it was not by any mean the first time that Beca had had company in the shower, but usually that company was invited.

"My what?" she spluttered, her mouth finally forming words.

"You have to audition for the Bella's." The redhead said in a way that left little room for argument.

"Who the hell are the Bella's?!" Beca pressed herself against the back of the cubicle, trying to cover as much of herself as she could whilst trying not to let her own gaze drop down below the redhead's neck. The other girl wasn't making it easy though, she made no move to cover anything but instead was watching Beca with a strange half smile on her face.

"The Bella's, the a cappella group from the other day." She replied brightly.

"Right, right." Beca mumbled, still drawing a mental blank.

"You don't remember us?" the redhead pouted, and the word adorable floated into Beca's head before she could stop it. "I was there with the blonde, Aubrey. The puking one." She added the last bit hastily and with a little giggle.

Beca had a vague recollection of what the other girl was saying, but was still too distracted for the memory to be clear. "I can't concentrate on anything you're saying until you cover your junk." She said instead, glancing skyward for what must have been the fifth time since the water had turned off.

"Just consider it. One time we sang back up for Prince, his butt is so tiny that I could hold it with like one hand." The girl was talking again as Beca tried to pull the shower curtain around herself, stepping forward the blue eyed girl tugged it away as she made a cupping gesture with her hand.

"I don't care." Beca said, annoyance colouring her tone and a look in her eyes that she was sure would send the redhead scurrying out of her shower, but instead the girl moved closer knocking Beca's shampoo bottle out of her hands and merely smirking as the brunette struggled to retrieve it whilst muttering darkly about her state of undress. "You were singing Titanium right?"

Beca turned her head at the question, forgetting for a moment that they were both nude for a moment as she asked. "You know David Guetta?"

"Have I been living under a rock, yeah? That song is my jam." The redhead proclaimed proudly and then with a smirk carried on. "My _lady_ jam." She leaned closer to Beca and the brunette couldn't help the flush of red that spread up her chest to her neck at the words.

"That's nice."

"It is; the song really builds." The girl's blue eyes had clouded over slightly and she was biting her lip with a slightly distant look on her face, as if lost in a pleasant memory.

"Gross." Beca muttered, even though the images flashing through her mind were anything but gross, her resolve wavered and she allowed her eyes to cast downwards, her mental images becoming even more pronounced as she got a quick glimpse of the redhead's toned body, before flicking her eyes back up to the smiling face.

"Can you sing it for me?" the other girl asked eagerly.

"Dude no! Get out!" Beca scowled.

"Not for that reason!" the redhead looked shocked that Beca would even imply such a thing. "I'm not leaving here until you sing, so." The girl fell silent, glancing up at the ceiling as if there was nothing odd about the situation whatsoever.

Beca was usually much more composed in odd situations or under pressure, especially around naked women, hardly ever losing her cool, however, even she could admit it was hard to remain calm, dignified and charming when a complete stranger burst into the shower, stark naked and demanded to hear her sing when she was trying very hard to stay standing upright. Add to this that her intruder was exceptionally beautiful with a body to die for, what Beca had seen in her one second of weakness, and Beca could think of very few other scenarios that would reduce her to the shocked mumbling mess she was right at that second.

"You don't really get the concept of personal space do you?" she finally managed to ask dryly, relieved to hear her voice sounded less terrified and more like it's usual sceptical tone. "Or the boundaries of inappropriate contact." At this last bit she looked pointedly between her own naked figure and the one that was stood less than two feet from her.

"Not when I'm going after what I want." The redhead shrugged, a sultry glint in her eyes. Beca's eyebrows rose so high they almost disappeared into her hair.

The redhead sighed loudly, exhaling with a soft 'ahh'. "I'm still waiting." She said a second later as Beca stood in an awkward silence. Realising that she had little choice Beca gave a grunt of submission and turned her body towards her shower companion, making sure to keep eye contact whilst trying to preserve as much of her modesty as she could.

Her voice was shaky at first as she picked up the chorus she had been singing, strengthening after a couple of bars, her eyes widened slightly in surprise as the other girl joined in. Her voice was sweet, clear, angelical was the adjective that Beca's brain provided, even though she had never used it before in her life, and matched Beca's harmony perfectly, complementing her lower voice as they continued to sing the chorus. The redhead maintained eye contact with Beca throughout and the brunette saw an emotion swirling in the ice blue depths, something she couldn't quite identify, but it sent a small thrill shooting through her stomach along with a feeling she couldn't quite explain.

Beca found her voice growing stronger as the pair sang, bolstered by how good the sound of their voices was as it echoed around the room. Her hands slipped from covering her chest, unnoticed by both girls who were too caught up in the sound of their voices rising and falling together and the look in the other's eyes. Finally, they stopped singing and Beca felt a strange sensation settle over her body, for a moment neither of them moved still gazing into each other's eyes, the air seemed to have gotten very heavy, a palpable tension between them.

The spell was broken when Beca's eyes drifted downwards once again, immediately she flicked them back up to the ceiling but the redhead had seen where she'd been looking.

"Oh yeah." She nodded and pulled her mouth to one side. "I'm pretty confident about all this." She gestured her hands over her torso, drawing Beca's attention back down for the second time in the space of five seconds.

Desperate to regain some of the control she had been denied since the shower curtain had been pulled back Beca allowed one of her trademark smirks to tug at her lips, arching a casual eyebrow. "You should be." She replied, allowing her voice to drop to a low rasp, one she knew worked very well on women. The results were not what she expected, the redhead bowed her head slightly, a faint pink staining her cheeks but when she looked up a second later the blush was gone had been replaced by a smirk of her own.

"Oh." As if realising they were naked for the first time the redhead turned and plucked Beca's towel from where it hung and handed it to the brunette, who accepted it quickly covering her body.

Suddenly a third figure emerged round the corner of the shower. "You have a lovely voice." The guy said giving the two women in the shower the once over, a gleeful look in his eyes.

"Thanks." Beca replied, torn between punching him in the face and running from the shower. The redhead seemed to realise that this was a step too far and ushered him out, giving Beca one more dazzling smile over her shoulder as she did so.

As soon as she was gone the shock of the last few minutes dissipated, leaving Beca feeling more like her normal self. Not wanting to come away from the experience a complete bumbling idiot she stuck her head out of the shower cubicle.

"Hey wait!" She called, the redhead stopped, turning slightly. "I didn't catch your name." the other girl raised an eyebrow with a knowing smirk. "I need to know what name to give the police when I complain about my stalker." Beca continued, which caused the girl to giggle.

"Chloe, Chloe Beale." She replied, and with a wink disappeared from sight, but not before calling out. "I'll see you at the Bella's auditions Beca Mitchell."

* * *

 **So I hope you enjoyed that first chapter, please please let me know what you thought by leaving a review about whether or not I should continue! If you decide I should the next chapter will be the auditions!**

 **Pirate-x-Girls**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to everyone who followed, favorited and reviewed the first chapter! I know it was a little slow going but the pace will pick up I promise. This chapter ended up being a monster and I thought about splitting it in two but couldn't find a way to make it work so you get the whole thing! I forgot to mention at the end of the last chapter that the piece of dialogue about the tattoo was taken from a draft of the script I found online when checking up on the lines, I liked it so much I decided to put it back in.**

 **Anyway enough from me, enjoy Chapter 2!**

* * *

 **You Call Me A Bitch Like It's A Bad Thing**

 **Chapter 2**

"A cappella?!" Jesse's hands froze halfway to his mouth, chips dangling from his fingers as he regarded Beca was an expression that couldn't decide if it wanted to be shock or amusement. "Beca Mitchell is going to audition for an a cappella group?" Unable to contain his laughter anymore he allowed a wide smile to break across his face, his fries to dropping down onto his plate he leant back in his chair, ignoring the scowl that Beca shot him across the table before she pinched his chips.

"I need to join a club, and it's got something to do with music so why the hell not?" she shrugged it off pretending it was no big deal. Jesse was still laughing, Beca waited patiently for him to stop, after a couple minutes had passed and there seemed to be no end to his mirth Beca gave up waiting, opting instead to kick him violently in the shin.

"OWW!" Jesse rubbed his shin furiously. "So uncool." He muttered as Beca gave a self-satisfied smirk. "So how did you end up deciding to audition for an a cappella group?" he asked a moment later still rubbing his shin.

"I may have bumped into one of them, they asked me to audition."

"Since when do you do anything that anyone asks you to do? I've been asking you to watch _Star Wars_ with me for a whole year!" Beca rolled her eyes.

"Dude, get over _Star Wars_ already!"

"Never!" Jesse hissed. "So what magical powers did this person have to convince you?" What Jesse saw next was something he had never seen before, Beca Mitchell flushed a rather alarming shade of red and mumbled something unintelligible into her pint glass. "I'm sorry I didn't catch that."

"She barged naked into my shower." Beca blurted out, her face flushing again. Jesse's mouth opened and closed a couple of times in surprise before he coughed loudly. "She made me sing, didn't really leave me much choice other than to agree." Jesse still didn't appear to have control of his facial muscles and was still looking at Beca a little slack jaw.

"So…who was this who barged into your shower?" he finally asked, his voice a little hoarse.

"Errr, her name was Chloe something, it began with a B." Beca scrunched up her face as she tried to remember the name the pretty redhead had thrown at her before she had disappeared out of the shower room.

"Chloe Beale, as in super-hot ginger Chloe Beale?!" Beca winced slightly at the shrillness of his voice.

"Yeah that was it, why do you know her?"

"I know of her; I mean our paths have crossed occasionally." Jesse shrugged his voice still a little high.

"What you didn't try and kiss her too did you?" Beca joked chuckling, a chuckle that died in her throat when she saw that the tips of Jesse's ears had gone very red. "You so totally did." She cackled slapping her thigh. It was Jesse's turn to blush now as he pulled his t-shirt up over his face until just his eyes were visible. "Dude you have _got_ to be more smooth!" Beca shook her head.

"At least she didn't punch me in the face." Jesse muttered darkly, his face was no longer tomato red, but Beca still reckoned she could fry an egg on it if she wanted too.

"I'm not apologising again for that." She told him. "You got the one apology after it happened and that was it."

"You gave me a black eye!" Jesse protested.

"You tried to stick your tongue down my throat, you were lucky I didn't break both of your legs." Beca retorted, Jesse conceded the point with a nod.

"Chloe Beale burst into your shower naked." He mused a moment later, desperate to draw the attention away from him.

"Yep." Beca responded, popping the 'p' her gaze already wandering around the bar.

"And you just agreed to audition for her group? Just like that." Jesse continued, Beca tore her gaze away from a blonde standing by the bar who'd just given her a flirtatious wink to glance back at Jesse, irritation flashing in her eyes.

"Well she refused to leave until I did, and I need to join a club to appease my dad, it may as well be something to do with music." Her grimace told Jesse that still wasn't happy about that part of the deal. "I'm starting to wonder if I should go at all." She said, her gaze drifting back to the blonde who was still giving her the come hither eyes.

"I tell you what, you audition for the Bella's and _I_ will audition for the Trebles."

"The what?" Beca sighed irritably as Jesse's statement interrupted her eye fucking of the blonde for the second time.

"The Trebles." Jesse repeated. "You know the all-male a cappella band, they're supposed to be really good."

"I didn't know, and I'm sure they are." Beca's mind was already elsewhere, looking back at her friend once more she pursed her lips. "Fine, you've got a deal. I will audition if you do." Standing up she slid her wallet out of the back pocket of her jeans and threw some notes down on the table. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to be."

Jesse opened his mouth to protest but Beca had already gone, and he could only watch in surprise as his best friend headed across the bar, coming to a stop next to blonde, extending a hand for the other woman to shake.

"Every time." Jesse muttered.

* * *

"Bree."

The blonde looked up at the sound of her name to see Chloe lingering in the doorway of her bedroom. Aubrey didn't respond, just raised an eyebrow. Chloe looked guilty.

"What is it Chlo, I've got a lot to do tonight." Aubrey gestured to the thick textbooks spread out on her bed. Chloe rubbed the back of her neck and moved into the room.

"I sorta bumped into Beca Mitchell the other day and kinda, maybe invited her to auditions again." Aubrey's head snapped up at Chloe's words.

"You did what?!" she hissed. "Please tell me that this is your idea of a cruel joke."

Chloe laughed weakly, clutching her elbow she came to a stop at the edge of the bed. "We need all the people we can get, and she can really sing Bree!"

"She doesn't fit in with the Bella's!" Aubrey slammed her textbook shut and shifted off the bed to stand in front of her best friend, hands placed on her hips.

"Neither do any of the other girls who signed up to audition." Chloe pointed out. A pained expression flitted over Aubrey's face as she remembered the rag tag group of people who had put their names down to audition the following week. She dreaded to think of what previous Bella's would think if they had seen the activities fair, repressing a shudder Aubrey turned her attention back to Chloe.

"Yes maybe, but it's Beca Mitchell!"

"What do you have against this girl?" Chloe frowned. Aubrey threw her hands up in the air, exasperated.

"There's a reason she's called Beca 'bitch of Barden' Mitchell. She doesn't get on with anybody, she's impossible to work with and plain rude. Not to mention those beasts she has in her ears." The last part was added with particular venom.

"And you know this from personal experience with her?"

"Well no." Aubrey admitted. "The other day was the first time I've ever spoken to her. But…" seeing Chloe's raised eyebrows the blonde carried on hurriedly. "… _everyone_ says she's a bitch."

"I don't think she's the bitch everyone makes her out to be." Chloe replied stubbornly.

"Oh yes! I forgot about your 3 conversations rule." Aubrey scoffed rolling her eyes. "And after two conversations how is Miss Mitchell faring?"

"Well…" Chloe thought back to her two meetings with the brunette, on both occasions Beca had been sullen, hostile and rude. Granted the second time she'd had every right to be rude. "She's closed off." The redhead finished lamely, not failing to notice the triumphant flash in Aubrey's eyes.

"Nice girl talk for 'bitch'. Face it Chlo, even you can't find anything nice to say about her."

"She can sing." Chloe repeated, choosing not to tell Aubrey the nice things she was thinking about the flirtatious winks and smirks that Beca had flashed her at both the activities fair and in the shower room, once she had regained her composure that was. Chloe had a feeling that Aubrey wouldn't appreciate these observations. "Come on Bree, it can't help to let her audition?" Chloe's bottom lip started to pout as she fixed her best friend with a mournful expression.

"Ugh. Fine." Aubrey threw her hands up in defeat and flopped back down on her bed. "She can audition."

Chloe's expression went from sad to delighted in a flash, eyes sparkling she gave a small squeal. "You won't regret it Bree, it's going be totes amazing at the auditions." She gushed causing Aubrey to grimace and bat her away with one hand when the exuberant redhead tried to hug her.

"How did you end up bumping into her anyway?" Aubrey asked as Chloe made to leave the room. The gleeful expression vanished from Chloe's as fast as it had arrived and she bowed her head. Aubrey could have sworn her friend was blushing as she mumbled something about 'just around' before turning on her heel and feeling from the room, leaving a very confused Aubrey in her wake.

* * *

Beca hoisted her bag further up her shoulder as she came to a stop outside her father's office, she had received a text from him requesting her presence after her last class of the day, the formal nature of the message causing her to roll her eyes. Raising a hand, she knocked lazily on the door, waiting for her father's reply before opening the door.

Benjamin Mitchell looked up from his desk as his daughter sidled into the room, the look on her face telling him that she would rather be anywhere but there. "Ah Beca!" he said brightly, choosing to ignore her sullen expression. "Sit down." He gestured to the chair on the other side of his desk.

As he had expected Beca chose to remain standing, arms crossed over her chest. "What did you want to see me about?" she asked bluntly, she rarely used greetings, preferring to get the conversation started as soon as possible so it could finish.

"Can a father not simply want to see how his daughter is doing?"

"You never did when you left, why should that change now?" Dr Mitchell's face fell at Beca's biting reply.

"Now Beca…"

"Seriously what do you want? I have stuff to be doing."

"Have you found a club to join?" he asked. Beca didn't say anything, but after a moment gave a slow nod. "Good! Which one?"

"A cappella group." Beca replied finally, no hint of enthusiasm in her tone. Her father had not been expecting those words to ever come out of his daughter's mouth and his eyebrows raised in surprise.

"A cappella? That's…" he searched for the right word, "…interesting. Did it have to be to do with music, couldn't you have expanded your horizons a bit?" the glare he received was response enough to his question.

"I've done what you asked, the deal never said it couldn't be music related." Beca said slipping her hands into the pockets of her jeans.

"No it didn't, but a cappella is good, a chance to make some new friends." The statement was said in a nonchalant manner, but when Dr Mitchell made eye contact with his daughter he saw that she had realised the deeper implication behind his words.

"I'm not there to make friends." She said. "I'm there so I can leave this dump at the end of the year." Benjamin refused to rise to the bait.

"If that's what you think, but remember I expect your grades to get better as well."

"Whatever. Are we done here?"

"Beca please…"

"I have to go, I have assignments." Benjamin could only watch as his daughter walked away.

Benjamin's relationship with his daughter had always been tough, ever since she had been a child. She had always been stubborn, a trait she had inherited from him, and this stubbornness always seemed to lead to the two of them arguing from the time that Beca could talk. Beca's mother had always tried to keep the peace and for the most part it worked, but as Benjamin had become more and more engrossed in his work the divide between him and his daughter had widened.

Beca had always been closer to her mother, their shared love of music had forged a bond that Benjamin couldn't even begin to understand. He would never admit it but he was often jealous of the ease of his wife's relationship with their daughter, and he found it easier and easier to spend time away from home, burying himself in his work.

Benjamin was not proud of his decision to leave his wife and child, mostly because it had damaged his relationship with Beca beyond repair. He had spent a lot of time over the years trying to fix it, but Beca was having none of it, and this time her mother wasn't willing to step between the two of them and hold them back. Benjamin loved his new wife, Shelia, but there were times when he looked into his daughter's eyes and saw her cold indifference towards him, especially after the _incident_ , that made him question if it had been worth it.

* * *

Aubrey changed her mind about Beca being allowed to audition four times in the week that followed. The first time they were getting coffee when the blonde had blurted out suddenly that she had considered it and she did not feel that it would be right for Beca to audition for the Bella's, Chloe had turned to her best friend a frown gracing her usually smiling features.

"You literally said it was fine yesterday."

"Well I've changed my mind!"

"No you haven't." Chloe walked away leaving Aubrey at the counter gaping like a fish.

The second time Chloe had been brushing her teeth when Aubrey popped her head round the door of the bathroom. "She's not auditioning."

"Yesh she is Bree." Chloe had mumbled round her toothbrush. "You need to just accept it and stop being so childish." Aubrey spluttered something unintelligible before vanishing.

The third time Aubrey woke Chloe up to tell her. "My god woman!" Chloe mumbled turning over sleepily. "Get over it," she looked at her clock. "It's 3 in the morning!"

The fourth and final time Aubrey had barely got the words out of her mouth before Chloe had clapped one of her hands over the blonde's mouth.

"Enough! Auditions are tomorrow and if you spent as much time focusing on them as you did on Beca Mitchell then they'll be fine." Removing her hand from Aubrey's mouth Chloe smirked at her. "Anyone would think you had a crush on her." Her words had the desired reaction as Aubrey's eyes widened and her mouth opened and closed several times, unable to form any noises other than an indignant squeak.

The day of auditions started early for Chloe, not through choice but by a very nervous Aubrey barging into her room at the crack of dawn, slapping Chloe's legs frantically until the redhead was roused from sleep. Twenty minutes later Chloe was stumbling down to the kitchen yawning loudly and accepting the cup of coffee that Aubrey handed her with a tired smile.

"So we have lots to do before this afternoon." Aubrey was saying. "I need you to do these things." Ripping a page out of the notebook that was on the table in front of her Aubrey thrust the piece of paper in Chloe's direction without looking up. With a roll of her eyes Chloe accepted the paper, eyes scanning the list.

"Is all of this really necessary?" she asked a moment later. Aubrey looked up sharply.

"Yes." She barked. "It is. Now go." She dismissed Chloe with a wave of her hand. Biting an uncharacteristic scathing remark on her tongue Chloe took a deep breath before downing the rest of her coffee and heading out the door.

Aubrey's list ended up taking Chloe most of the day, and in the redhead's eyes many of the tasks were completely unnecessary, she didn't see the need for her to go all the way to the and put out reserved signs on the front row seats for her and Aubrey, considering there would only be about 30 people in the audience to begin with. Chloe had flat out refused to hunt down all of the girls who had signed up come to the auditions and check that they were coming, she had called Aubrey and made her feelings very clear, ignoring the spluttered arguments that came from the other side of the phone. Even without this task Chloe didn't finish until less than an hour before the auditions, giving her barely enough time to get back to the flat and get changed before heading out with Aubrey.

Chloe was sure that Aubrey was going to need a bowl when they finally sat down in front of the stage later that afternoon, her friend had been swallowing hard and massaging her throat ever since they had left the house, despite snapping at Chloe that she was fine when the redhead dared to bring it up. She was now sat next to Chloe eyes trained on the stage, back straight and so tense that Chloe was sure she was going to snap at any moment.

Aubrey's mood was not helped by the snide comments of Bumper Allen who had taken up seats at the back of the auditorium with the Trebles, the captain of the group had always known how to get under Aubrey's skin and the recent 'pukegate' incident had given him a host of new material that he indulged in gleefully. Chloe was glad when Aubrey was distracted by the announcement of the start of the auditions because the captain of the Bella's looked like she was two seconds away from climbing over the chairs and punching Bumper in the face, not that Chloe wouldn't have loved to have seen that but the Bella's reputation had suffered enough scandal.

As the auditions started Chloe kept one eye on Aubrey, trying to gauge her friend's reaction to the singers, for the most part Aubrey gave nothing away about what she was thinking, a skill she had become very proficient in the past few years, but small twitches in her facial muscles that Chloe had learnt to read gave away her feelings, and so far she had yet to be impressed. There was potential in the group, Amy, the Australian who had approached them so brazenly at the activities fair proved that her voice was strong and powerful, Chloe could see it fitting in well with the Bella's, however bemusing her personality. The tall leggy brunette Stacie certainly fitted the physical specifications for the Bella's and Aubrey had sat up a little straighter when she'd walked onto the stage a half smile pulling at her lips, the tall brunette's voice was certainly powerful too, even if her suggestive dance moves were more than a little uncomfortable, Cynthia-Rose was another girl who Chloe believed to have potential, but Aubrey's raised eyebrows at the girl's attire showed what she thought. Neither Aubrey nor Chloe knew what to make of Lily, except that her unblinking stare was quite unnerving, whether or not she could sing had yet to be determined because so far the only thing they had heard coming out of her mouth was hushed whispers.

Chloe had also been keeping an eye out for Beca Mitchell, eyes often flitting from whoever was on stage to the wings, hoping to see a flash of brown hair, as they last few singers had their go there was still no sign of her and Chloe was starting to worry that she wasn't going to show. Granted she had never received verbal confirmation from the other girl that she was going to come, and if her surly nature was anything to go by there was every chance that she wouldn't bother. But Chloe had felt something in the shower when she had sung with the brunette, a connection unlike any other, their voices blending together in perfect harmony, and when she had locked eyes with Beca's ocean blue eyes she could see that the other girl had felt it too.

"Looks like she's not coming." Chloe could hear the smile in Aubrey's whisper without having to turn to look at her friend.

"The auditions aren't over yet." She muttered back, but as the last singer ended their audition attempting to hit a note that was far too ambitious Chloe was getting ready to accept defeat, she had read Beca Mitchell wrong.

It was as she was rubbing her temple, trying to fight of the beginnings of a killer migraine that Chloe caught movement out of the corner of her eye, looking up she saw the small brunette loitering in the wings, hands twisting together as she looked at the stage with a barely concealed look of disapproval. "Oh wait there's one more." Chloe spoke up quickly. Aubrey, who had been glancing down at her notes looking very pleased with herself looked up immediately, expression darkening as her gaze came to rest on Beca, Chloe ignored the glare that Aubrey sent her way and waved Beca forward offering her a reassuring smile. "Hi."

"Hello." Beca stepped out onto the stage, looking as if she couldn't quite believe that her feet were carrying her forward.

"You're late." Aubrey said tersely as Beca came to a stop in front of them.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Beca replied, not sounding sorry at all. "I err, kinda forgot." The scowl on Aubrey's face became more pronounced as Beca shrugged. "I didn't know we had to prepare that song."

"Oh that's ok. Sing anything you want." Chloe spoke before Aubrey had a chance to complain, feeling the blonde stiffen next to her in indignation. Going down on her hands and knees Beca gestured to the cup in front of Chloe in a silent question, and at Chloe's nod tipped the contents out and retreating back into a seated position on the stage, legs crossed and cup in front of her. The brunette took a deep breath, mumbled something to herself that Chloe didn't hear before beginning to tap out a rhythm with the cup and her hands. Chloe cast a glance to Aubrey mystified, and saw that her friend was wearing same expression, although hers carried a lot more hostility.

Then Beca began to sing.

* * *

Beca had debated with herself for the entire week about whether or not she should go to the audition, despite nudging's from Jesse whenever he saw her at work. One the one hand Beca could think of nothing worse than having to get up on a stage and jump through hoops just to please the likes of Aubrey, but then on the other hand there was the redhead, Chloe. Beca didn't know why the other girl was so adamant to get her to audition for the Bella's but there was a small part of the brunette that didn't want to let her down, a feeling that Beca had not experienced in a very long time.

There was also the uncomfortable issue that Beca was in no hurry to address about the moment in the shower when they had been singing, Beca found herself thinking often of the tension that had bounced between them as they'd locked eyes. A feeling that she had never felt before and even now couldn't describe, the curious part of Beca wanted to explore that feeling, find out what it meant and it urged her towards the audition reasoning against her stubborn side that it was the only way to find it again.

That was how she found herself standing in the wings of the stage as the auditions finished, her inner debate still raging. Her decision was made for her when Chloe spotted her and beckoned her forward, a bright smile lighting up her face, Beca moved out onto the stage feeling a little bit uncomfortable under the intensity of the redhead's gaze, who was still looking at Beca like she was the only person in the world.

When she started singing Beca allowed her tensions and nervousness to melt away, music was the one place where Beca knew exactly what she was doing, and she allowed the world to become blurry around her until all she was concentrating on was the movement of her hands on the cup and the words that floated out of her mouth.

There was silence as she finished and looking up Beca saw both Aubrey and Chloe watching her curiously, for once the blonde's face wasn't twisted into a mask of mistrust and dislike, Aubrey seemed to realise this and quickly changed her expression back into one of stormy silence. Chloe was looking at Beca with smug grin on her face that for some reason made Beca's lips twitch in an imitation of a smile before she stood up.

Jesse was waiting for her in the wings, a big goofy grin on his face. "Wow Beca that was awesome!" he clapped her on the shoulder as she passed him. "Although the thing with the cup was a bit gimmicky," Beca rolled her eyes and punched him in the shoulder.

"Shut up, I didn't know everyone else was gonna be doing the same song."

"Course not, because you never do anything that makes you different from everyone else." Jesse chuckled sarcastically. "Seriously though dude I think you're a shoo-in for the Bella's."

"I can hardly wait." Beca deadpanned.

The sound of her name being called caused the brunette to turn around, Chloe was bounding towards them, red hair bouncing round her shoulders and a wide smile on face. "That was fantastic!" she squealed as she reached them and grabbing Beca's forearms. Jesse watched as his best friend's eyebrows disappeared into her hair at the surprise contract, his interest heightened when Beca didn't immediately shrug the other girl off, instead allowing the contact to go on for a few seconds before she pulled her hands back and pushed them into her pockets.

"Thanks." She muttered.

"Seriously totes amazing! The thing with the cup was brilliant!" Chloe was bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, excitement radiating off of her. "I'll need to have a conversation with Aubrey but I think it's safe to say that you're in!" Beca's eyebrows had yet to come back down and she didn't seem to know what to do with her face. Jesse watched the exchange with a laugh caught halfway in his throat, he had never seen his friend so lost for words, because if there was one thing he knew about Beca Mitchell is that she _always_ had something to say.

"I can't wait." Beca finally replied, Chloe either didn't pick on the sarcastic undertone in the brunette's voice or she chose to ignore it because her smile only widened. Beca, uncomfortable with the look in the redhead's eye decided to shift the attention away from herself. "This is Jesse." She gestured to her friend who waved meekly, his smile dimming a little bit.

"Hi!" Chloe greeted the boy with a wave and another dazzling smile. "Hey haven't we met before, at some party you…" the redhead trailed off as realisation dawned. Beca couldn't help the guffaw that bubbled in her throat at the sight of Jesse's face flushing bright red and his garbled attempts to formulate a reply.

Jesse excused himself a few seconds later, face still burning and bumping his shoulder into Beca's in revenge. Beca chuckled, rubbing her shoulder as her friend disappeared as quickly as his dignity would allow him too, and looked back at Chloe who was watching her intently.

"What?"

"Nothing. You should smile more often." Chloe said. "It looks good on you." The redhead carried on before turning and walking away before Beca could reply.

"I do smile often." Beca muttered petulantly, but Chloe had gone.

* * *

Chloe and Aubrey spent most of the next couple of days pouring over the papers for auditions, debating the merits and shortcomings of each girl1, in Aubrey's case the shortcomings were far more prevalent. Some of the decisions had been very easy, both girls had immediately agreed that Stacie had the looks and the voice of a Bella, but other decisions had caused some friction.

"She's just so…" Aubrey made a half gesture with her hands. "…out there." She finished after a minute.

"I liked her." Chloe said chewing on the top of her pen looking down at Amy's picture. "And she had such power in her voice. It kinda gave me shivers."

"You get shivers from everything." Aubrey responded. "But I suppose you're right, we can work with her personality."

"What about Lily?" Chloe asked picking up the girl's sheet and passing it to Aubrey who looked at it with a slightly fearful look.

"She scares me a little." The captain said in a whisper. "Her stare was so…"

"…intense." Chloe finished for her.

Several more girls including Lily, Cynthia-Rose, Jessica and Ashley made the cute before they came to the last choice.

"No." The word was out of Aubrey's mouth before Chloe had even turned the page over.

"Bree!"

"What?!"

"You can't be that stubborn!"

"Yes I can be." Aubrey pouted in a very uncharacteristic fashion. "She will try and sabotage the Bella's."

"How the hell do you know that?" Chloe snorted.

"I just do; you know feel it in my gut." Aubrey replied.

"I thought the Bella's didn't deal in 'bone feelings'" Chloe made air quotes around the last two words raising an eyebrow.

"I can, because I'm the captain."

"Come on, you know as well as I do that she was one of the best we had audition, and I'm sure that she won't try and do anything to sabotage the Bella's." Chloe said soothingly. Aubrey looked at her, obviously deep in thought, she opened and closed her mouth a few times, but no words came out.

"Give her a chance Bree. For me."

Aubrey groaned when Chloe gave her the puppy dog eyes and stuck her bottom lip out, letting it tremble slightly. "Oh my god Chlo! Alright, she's in!" Aubrey pointed a finger at the redhead. "But you're not allowed to use the eyes again for the rest of the year."

"Deal." Chloe grinned.

"Why have you been pushing this so hard?" Aubrey asked as she stacked the papers together. Chloe shrugged.

"I guess I just want to see everyone have a chance." She said. "And I really believe that there's more to her than people think."

"Chloe Beale you are too nice for your own good." Aubrey tutted, throwing an arm round Chloe's shoulder she gave her best friend a squeeze. "Don't ever change."

* * *

The weekend came and went without Beca hearing anything from the Bella's, she was ashamed to admit that in the first couple of days after the auditions she found herself checking her phone more than usual. After a particularly odd day where she had checked 7 times in an hour she gave herself a mental slap. _'Goddamn it Mitchell, you do not care if you get in or not. It's an a cappella club for fucks sake.'_ She'd growled at herself, slamming the box of CD's she'd been sorting down on a table loudly, causing Jesse to let out a squeal of surprise, followed by a yelp of pain as his box of CD's fell on his foot.

"What the hell?!" he groaned, limping over to the table he hoisted himself onto it and massaged his foot.

"Stop being such a baby." Beca shook her head as Jesse pulled his shoe and sock off whimpering as he rubbed the small red mark on the top of his foot.

"Kiss it better." Jesse pouted extending his foot towards the brunette.

"Dude! Gross!" Beca wrinkled her nose and jerked away from him. "Put your foot away or you're going to get another black eye." She warned. Jesse laughed and pulled his shoe back on before getting back to his CD stacking.

"Have you heard from the Trebles?" Beca asked a few moments later, she tried to make the question as light as possible but Jesse saw straight through it.

"Are you worried you haven't got into the Bella's?" he smirked, Beca rolled her eyes.

"No, I was just trying to do that friend thing where I take an interest in your life." She responded.

"Well you suck at it." Jesse shot back. "No I haven't heard anything yet, but knowing the Trebles I'm sure they'll find some fancy way to let us know. Who knows maybe Aubrey will puke on everyone who got in." Beca couldn't help but laugh when Jesse did his best impression of Aubrey's puking.

"You're such a dork."

* * *

It was dark by the time that Beca's shift finished at the radio station, she said goodbye to Jesse at the door and set off across campus towards her dorm, already thinking about the newest mix she wanted to create.

She was so wrapped up in composing the mix in her head and humming parts of it out loud that she didn't hear the footsteps that came up behind her until the bag was thrown over her head and her world was plunged into darkness. Unfortunately for Beca's assailant this wasn't the first time she had been jumped, there had been several instances outside bars where a jilted drunk guy had decided to take his frustrations out on the petite brunette who had stolen his date, as a result of this Beca had learnt a few tricks to help her out in these situations.

As soon as the bag was plopped over her head Beca jabbed her right elbow behind her, hard. Her elbow connected with soft flesh and the person behind her grunted in pain, this grunt evolved into a muffled string of curse words as Beca used the momentum of her arm to snap her fist straight upwards, taking great satisfaction when her hand crunched into hard bone.

Another pair of hands joined the first, keeping Beca in place and pushing her along the path, Beca swore violently at her attackers, promising all kinds retribution if they didn't release her this second, struggling wildly. But the hands that were holding her refused to budge and Beca soon heard the sound of a door opening and then she was being taken inside.

Beca was guided to a stop and she was aware that there were now other people on either side of her, the hands on her arm moved away, but not before giving her forearm a gentle squeeze.

"The Sopranos; Jessica, Mary Elise and Lily." A voice had begun speaking and Beca instantly recognised it as Aubrey's, that's when it dawned on her that this must be the initiation she had heard being mentioned a few days previously but hadn't bothered paying enough attention to it to take it seriously. "The Mezzos; Cynthia-Rose, Stacie and Kori." Beca could hear the sounds of rustling and guessed that the girls whose names had been called had had their hoods removed. "And our Alto's; Fat Amy, Denise, Ashley and Beca" The hood was yanked from Beca's head and she blinked rapidly as her eyes adjusted to the low light of the candlelit room, looking around she saw the other girls from the audition standing in a row next to them, varying degrees of delight, shock and in some cases murderous glares. This last one was Lily who was half crouched as if ready to go into fighting mode.

Aubrey and Chloe had moved round the girls to stand behind a table that held a large chalice and several folded up scarves. Beca noted with grim satisfaction that Aubrey looked slightly winded and was holding herself a little gingerly round the stomach, she could have also sworn that there was slight bruising appearing on the captain's chin. This last observation caused Beca to smirk to herself which unfortunately for her did not go unnoticed by Aubrey who glowered at her fiercely.

The initiation was every bit as weird as Beca had imagined it would be, after being forced to drink 'the blood of the sister's that came before you' which Chloe had assured Beca was just Boone's Farm, the older Bella's had presented the new girls with their scarves. Beca looked at hers in disgust, daring to ask if they were actually expected to wear them, the glare Aubrey had levelled at her had been so full of loathing that Beca wished she had kept her mouth shut.

Once they had completed the oath which involved some rubbish about sexual relations with Treblemakers and wolves ripping out their vocal chords Aubrey announced them all Bella's. Beca resisted the urge to roll her eyes as the other girl's chatted excitedly amongst themselves. Chloe caught Beca's eye and winked as she moved round to congratulate the new Bella's.

"Are we done now? Am I allowed to leave?" Beca asked as the redhead reached her, praying that the answer would be yes. Chloe shook her head and smiled, Beca wondered if there was ever a time that Chloe wasn't smiling.

"Not yet, there's still something else we have to do,"

"What?"

"Ladies, welcome to Aca-initiation night!"

The surprise wasn't revealed until Aubrey and Chloe had led the new girls to an old amphitheatre where it seemed all the a cappella people on campus had gathered.

"Unbelievable." Beca muttered, not quite sure if she could believe what she was seeing.

"I know right!" Fat Amy had come up beside her, a wide grin splitting her face. "I still can't believe they let my sexy fat ass in!" The Australian nudged Beca with a chuckle and wandered off to find a drink.

"Beca!" Hearing Jesse's voice Beca turned round to see her friend clambering over the stone seats to get to her. "Be-caw!" he screeched, tripping over the last seat and landing very ungracefully in front of her. "Do my eyes deceive me or are you a Barden Bella?" his voice was slurred and his gaze a little unfocused.

"No, just here because I heard it's the coolest place to be."

"You're one of those a cappella girls, I'm one of those a cappella boys, together we could make…"

"I am begging you do _not_ finish that sentence!"

Jesse laughed. "It's inevitable." He muttered.

"You're really drunk right now. You're not gonna remember any of this tomorrow." Beca teased him.

"I'm not drunk, you're just blurry." Jesse defended himself, to test her theory Beca reached out and pushed his chest slightly causing him to rock backwards and forwards. "See not drunk at all, I just come right back." He grinned leaning in so close that she could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"Whoa, remember what happened the last time you got this close to me when you'd been drinking." Jesse adopted a serious expression and leant back again, even in his drunken state remembering the punch from the year before.

"Can I get you a drink?"

"Please do."

Jesse didn't move for a minute, Beca suspected that he was waiting for the world to stop spinning. "I'm gonna get you a drink, I think you need to get on this level." He declared a moment later.

"That's gonna take a lot more than one drink." Beca called after him as he stumbled off, giggling to himself.

Less than five seconds had passed before her personal space was being invaded again, this time it was a very drunk Chloe who much like she had after the auditions grabbed Beca's forearms and yanked her forward.

"Hi." The redhead breathed, her face mere inches from Beca's. "I'm so glad that I met you." Her voice was so sincere and her eyes so bright that Beca found herself smiling too.

"You might be the first person ever to say that." She replied, Chloe giggled drunkenly, applying more pressure to tug the brunette closer to her.

"I think that we're going to be really fast friends." Chloe's nose brushed against Beca's and the brunette couldn't help but let her gaze flicker down to the other girl's lips that were so close to her own.

"Well you have seen me naked." Beca winked, allowing a smile to stretch her lips, something she found that she was doing more and more around the redhead. Chloe gave a giggle and nodded, biting her lip with the same sultry look in her eyes that Beca had seen in the shower.

"Have all of your friends seen you naked?" her voice like Jesse's was slurred with the effect of alcohol but somehow the statement still came out as a purr, causing Beca's stomach to jolt.

"Only the special ones." The brunette whispered back, giving Chloe another wink. Chloe may have gotten the jump on her in the shower and reduced Beca to a stammering, gibbering mess, but here, now, Beca was in control. She could see that her last statement had had an impact on Chloe because the redhead's cheeks stained pink and she let out another giggle. Beca leant back, subtly shifting her hands out of the redhead's, as much as she tolerated the contact there was only so much she could take. The action did not go unnoticed by Chloe who's smile dimmed a little, but it was a momentary reaction for a moment later the smile was back and Chloe was pulling away.

"Alright, I'm gonna go get a drink," she grinned. "This ginger needs her jiggle juice." The words were accompanied by a shake of her hips that was alluring that Beca almost reached out, but at the last second she restrained herself.

"Make good choices." Beca said the redhead bounced away towards the keg. It was at this moment that Jesse arrived back, carefully carrying two full red cups, handing one to Beca he took a long swig from his own.

"So that looked cosy." He remarked.

"What did?"

"You and Chloe. All up in each other's space." Beca rolled her eyes as Jesse waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Very intimate."

"Not a situation I instigated." Beca grunted. "she clearly has no respect for personal boundaries, she barged into my shower for god's sake."

"She can have no respect for my personal boundaries any day." Jesse mumbled into his drink. "And unrestricted access to my shower."

"Dude, try and sound a little _less_ desperate."

"Pukey keeps staring at us." Beca looked up from her drink and saw that Aubrey was indeed eyeing the two of them intently, Beca plastered an obviously fake smile on her face and waved at the blonde, causing her to turn away with a huff. "Wow she really doesn't like you." Jesse grinned.

Beca chuckled. "No, can't think why. She probably thinks we're about to start dry humping on one of these chairs." She carried on dryly. Jesse turned to her, his eyes lighting up.

"Well we shouldn't disappoint her." He purred in an imitation of the voice he'd heard Beca use countless times before, only in his drunken state it sounded like he was half asleep.

"Dude that's nasty! Not even in your wildest dreams!" Beca laughed. "Also don't ever try and do that voice again, trust me it will never work for you." She nudged him with her shoulder to show she was joking, before downing the rest of her drink and pushing her cup at him. "Go on stud, get me another drink."

* * *

"Red works fast." Jesse commented a while later as he and Beca sat up at the back of the amphitheatre whilst the party raged around them. Beca followed his gaze, and saw Chloe draped all over one of the football players, Beca was pretty sure it was Chloe's shower companion from the other night, well her _other_ shower companion. The two were involved in a heavy make out session, Beca winced as the football player clumsily groped the redhead's arse.

"He looks like he's kneading dough." Jesse's loud drunken whisper voiced the thoughts Beca had on the tip of her tongue. There was no way the pair heard them but they broke apart at that moment, Chloe's eyes roved the party and found Beca's within seconds, who was still smirking at Jesse's comment and the impression of the football player he'd been doing, mercifully he'd stopped it just before Chloe had looked at them.

A glowing smile on her face Chloe started towards Beca, but before she had gone more than five steps she was intercepted by Aubrey who pulled her away, talking low in her ear and casting a dirty look back at Beca over her shoulder.

* * *

Chloe wasn't able to get away from Aubrey for another half an hour, she was finally able to escape when Aubrey had to run off to stop Fat Amy from downing an entire keg of beer. Her best friend had spent all of that time alternating between ranting about the state of the new Bella's, Beca mostly, and chastising Chloe about Tom. Aubrey didn't care much for Chloe's occasional hook up, and wasn't shy about telling her. When she had finally finished her lecture and run off to deal with the rowdy Australian Chloe had scanned the party, looking for the small brunette she had been trying to get too before Aubrey had gotten to her.

Beca hadn't moved, but Jesse wasn't with her anymore, Chloe's smile dimmed a little when she saw that Beca had found some female company, a pretty blonde who was hanging off Beca's every word. As Chloe watched the girl dragged her fingers lazily along Beca's forearms, her intentions deafeningly clear, Beca smirked at the girl and moving closer whispered something in the blonde's ear. Even from across the amphitheatre Chloe could see the blush that flared on the girl's cheeks leaving no doubt that Beca had said something right, Beca's lips were now trailing up the blonde's throat and her left hand played up the girl's thigh. Chloe felt a frown crease her forehead, and she wasn't quite sure why, not wanting to dwell on the strange feeling Chloe put it down to the alcohol she could feel coursing through her system, and turned away from the pair who had now moved to making out before heading off to speak to Stacie who was keeping an enraptured Cynthia-Rose entertained with a story about a bikini car wash she had taken part in in high school.

* * *

Lips met, heated in the dark, teeth and tongues clashing hard. Fingertips trailed up soft skin, a breathless moan echoed around the silent room.

Beca smiled against the skin she had just been kissing as another loud moan bubbled from the blonde underneath her, kissing up the long arc of the girl's throat she bit down sharply on the pulse point that beat fiercely beneath her lips, whilst at the same time thrusting her fingers into the girl hard. The response was what she had expected and the body underneath her shuddered violently.

When the blonde had finally stopped shaking she leant up and tried to push Beca's shirt off her shoulders, Beca distracted her with a kiss, making sure she was breathless when she pulled away. "Now it's your turn." The blonde purred. "I can't believe you haven't taken your clothes off yet."

"Well I was too preoccupied with you." Beca smirked back biting the girl's lip so she gasped. "Now, I'm gonna be right back, I'm gonna get you a glass of water." The blonde who's name she had already forgotten flopped back onto the bed as Beca slipped out of the room.

Beca checked the coast was clear in the living room before easing open the front door and leaving before the other girl came to check on her.

Checking her watch as she came out the main door of the building Beca saw that it wasn't even 3am yet, she could still hear the faint sounds of the party happening a few hundred feet away and for a moment she considered heading back, but then she realised that doing that would mean talking to people and Beca was confident she had used up all her social interactions for the evening. She hadn't even been intending on leaving with anyone that night, but the blonde a cappella girl had been cute and eager.

It was at that moment that Beca came to the realisation that she wasn't quite sure of the way back to her dorm, as she looked around trying to get her bearings she saw a figure standing a few feet away, recognising the distinctive mane of red hair Beca supressed a sigh.

"Great." She muttered.

* * *

Once her alcohol induced buzz had worn off Chloe decided that she needed to go home, she was tired and Tom had left her alone so she had no chance of a late night tryst, promising Aubrey she would text her when she got home, the blonde was staying to round up the last of the Bella's, she set off towards the flat. As she walked she allowed the night air to caress her face, cooling her flushed cheeks. Chloe had always loved the night time, there was something about the calm serenity that night brought that made her heart sing, looking up she saw that the moon was full, casting strong beams of moonlight through the trees. It was true that Chloe loved the sunshine but she thought there was something far more magical about the moonlight, it gave her the feeling that anything was possible.

Movement up ahead caught her eye and looking up Chloe saw a figure slipping out of one of the dorms. A familiar figure.

It was quite clear what Beca Mitchell had been doing, her hair was mussed and her clothes ruffled. There was also the self-satisfied smirk on her face that Chloe could see even in the dark. Chloe found a strange feeling in her stomach flare up as she thought about what the brunette had just been up to, a feeling that she couldn't quite pinpoint. Beca's smirk faded when she looked up and caught sight of Chloe, the brunette immediately looked up the path as if contemplating escape before Chloe urged her legs into motion, moving towards Beca.

"I was looking for you." Chloe called as she got closer. Beca gave a grunt in reply, hands slipping into their usual position in her pockets, shoulders hunched over. "At least she's not a treble." Beca looked confused at Chloe's words until the redhead jerked her head towards the dorm.

"Oh you saw."

"Yeah, I don't think Aubrey did though so you should be safe."

"Well that is a relief."

"So what was her name?" Chloe asked, ignoring the brunette's sarcastic reply.

"Who's name?" Beca frowned, confused at the sudden change in direction of conversation. "Oh err." She glanced back up at the building. "I dunno." Without warning she started to walk away.

"Wait!" Chloe hurried to catch up with her. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"I mean I don't know what her name is, I forgot it."

"Doesn't that make you feel bad?" Chloe couldn't fathom forgetting someone's name, especially someone you'd been intimate with, now Chloe could remember the name of pretty much everyone who she had ever met, especially those she had been intimate with. Putting a hand on Chloe's arm she pulled the brunette to a stop.

"What are you doing?!" Beca demanded. "I would rather not be standing out here when blondie realises that I'm not coming back with water." Pulling her arm out of Chloe's the brunette stomped off.

"You mean you just left?!" Chloe asked incredulously.

"Yeah. Problem?" Beca shot a glare at Chloe as the redhead caught up with her again.

"No, well yes, I just don't understand why you would up and leave!"

"You've never left right after a booty call Red?! Beca arched an eyebrow looking Chloe up and down again. "Course not, you look just like a cuddles and breakfast in bed kind of girl."

"So what if I am?" Chloe frowned, feeling offended for the first time since she had met Beca. "Excuse me for thinking that people deserve to be treated nicely and with respect." She carried on his response to Beca's scoff and eye roll.

"It's a one-night stand." Beca retorted. "People know what that means." The brunette increased her walking speed, obviously in a hurry to end the conversation. "At least they should with me." Her last words were spoken so softly Chloe barely caught them.

"It doesn't have to be so…callous. It can be sweet and nice."

"You don't really look like a one-night stand kind of girl so yeah…" it was the laugh in Beca's voice that caused something in Chloe to snap. Moving forward she planted herself in front of the brunette.

"You don't know anything about me." Beca looked surprised at the hardness in Chloe's tone and if she was honest so was Chloe she didn't often lose her temper.

"Wait, so you're annoyed at me because I assumed that you _don't_ sleep around." Chloe's frown faded as she processed the last thirty seconds of their conversation.

"Sort of, well not really." She stammered. "My point is that you don't know enough about me to assume anything." She finally said.

"Sure." Beca raised an eyebrow. "Just like you don't know enough about _me_ to assume anything." The brunette held her hands out. "Yet here you are."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Chloe asked, her frown returning.

"You assumed that because I've joined your group we've suddenly formed some kind of magical bond that means you get to have an input in how I live my life, and assuming that I actually give a damn about what you have to say, that and every time I turn around there you are!" Chloe blinked in surprise at the hostility in the brunette's tone. She regained her composure quickly however as her own annoyance began to rise.

"No, I think all I'm guilty of assuming is that maybe you deserved a chance to prove the rumours about your wrong." She snapped.

Beca gave a harsh bark of laughter and leant forward until her face was a few inches from Chloe's. The taller girl couldn't help but recall their conversation just a few hours before where Beca had been smiling, warm, flirtatious almost, Chloe wondered how that girl was so different from the one who was staring at her now, what had changed?

"Did it never occur to you?" Beca murmured. "That maybe the rumours are there for a good reason. Maybe I'm everything they say I am and your happy go lucky 'everyone is lovely' mantra is wrong." Her words hurt and Beca knew it. Not wanting to be drawn into an argument she knew she wouldn't win Chloe chose to walk away without a word, leaving the brunette standing alone on the path.

* * *

Beca watched Chloe go with a sigh, her anger receding as quickly as it had arrived, she hadn't meant to be as nasty to the redhead, who apart from Jesse seemed to be the only person who went out of their way to be nice of her.

But that was what Beca Mitchell did when people started probing at her defences, testing for weaknesses, she shot them down before they could get in to deep, forced them to want to leave so that she could say that it was always going to happen, and she wouldn't have to feel anything.

She had learnt her lesson, the hard way. The only person she could rely on was herself, and she would never make the same mistake twice.

* * *

 **Fear not our two favourite ladies will not be mad at each other for too long! I hope you enjoyed that chapter and let me know what you thought by leaving a review! Next time it's the first practice and Chloe discovers something surprising about Beca.**

 **Until next time!**

 **Pirate-x-Girls**


	3. Chapter 3

**I meant to have this chapter up a couple of days ago in keeping with the weekly update but work got crazy and then I tried wall climbing for the first time and haven't been able to move my arms for a couple of days! This is the longest chapter I've ever written for a story and my favourite so far. Thank you to all who have favourited, followed and reviewed! If you're reading this story and have yet to review leave me a comment letting me know what you think, good or bad! You may have noticed as well that I changed the summary, because honestly the more I looked at the last one the more it bugged me how rubbish it was, so it was changed to better reflect the tone of the story.**

 **The songs used in this chapter are _Innocence_ and _Dirty Minds_ by Halestorm, awesome songs so definitely check them out. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

 **You Call Me A Bitch Like It's A Bad Thing**

 **Chapter 3**

Beca Mitchell doesn't do apologies. This practice has stretched back to her childhood, when a young Beca would stand resolutely in front of whichever parent had caught her, refusing to say the two little words.

I'm sorry.

These stand offs could last for hours, no matter how slight the offence. Until eventually either her parents, usually her father, would give up, throwing their hands up in the air, exasperated beyond measure. Or a mumbled apology would finally slip past the lips of the young girl, often spoken with contempt and she would dash up to her room.

As Beca had gotten older her aversion to apologies had softened somewhat, largely helped by the urging of her mother. Sarah Mitchell had impressed on her daughter that sorry wasn't necessarily a sign of weakness, that admitting to one's mistakes and making amends for them was not backing down, merely accepting responsibility as well as the acceptance of things she couldn't change. The words would come begrudgingly, but with more regularity and meaning during Beca's early teenage years.

Then her father had left.

When Benjamin had chosen to walk away, give up on his family and start his life again with _her_ , Beca realised that everything her mother had told her had been wrong. Sorry wasn't about accepting when you were wrong, the words meant nothing, it was hollow. It was something people said to say they'd tried, tried to fix whatever it was they had broken, but not tried hard enough. Sorry meant giving up.

She had heard it more times in the hours before her father's departure than she ever wanted to hear again, it had been shouted, cried, begged, pleaded, softly spoken and eventually was the last word she heard before the door closed behind him and her mother had crumpled into a heap on the floor, sobs like Beca had never heard before wracking her body.

Sorry had done that.

Beca had never forgiven her father, not accepted the many apologies that had been thrown her way over the years. Even now she could see the words in his eyes every time he looked at her, still pleading with her to accept, to release him from the prison of guilt he had built himself. Even now after the _incident_ , which had given birth to their deal she refused. He could rot in there for the rest of time for all she cared, she tolerated his presence enough to get what she wanted out of him and out of respect for her mother.

Her father had been a weak man, he had lacked the strength it took to stay and fight for his family and in Beca's mind his constant apologies were just the verbal proof of that weakness, and she vowed she would never allow herself to be that weak. So the young brunette stopped saying sorry. Unless she really had too.

No, Beca Mitchell didn't do apologies. But as she walked into the first Bella's practice the day after aca-initiation night she was preparing to say the two words she hated most in the world.

She was going to apologise to Chloe.

She hadn't been planning on it, but after the other girl had walked away Beca hadn't been able to get their conversation out of her mind, even when she was back home and in bed the words replayed again and again in her head, along with the image of Chloe's eyes, the way her face had dropped at Beca's biting words, and the sparkle in her eyes had dimmed. For the first time in a very long time Beca felt _bad_ about the effect her words had caused on someone, and with that feeling came the grim realisation. She was going to have to say sorry.

The last time she had made a heartfelt apology had been the day after she had punched Jesse in the face, and even that had been more of a mumbled admission of guilt followed by a soft shove to the shoulder. She definitely hadn't obsessed about doing it, it had come to her as more of an afterthought the next day.

Beca had been stood in front of the door to rehearsals for the last five minutes, part of her reluctance to open the door was down to the fact that she was currently about to enter an a cappella rehearsal, she wanted to roll her eyes just thinking about it. But there was also the _other_ thing, the thing that had kept her awake all night.

 _Get it together._

Steeling herself Beca pushed the door open, perhaps a little harder than she had intended, the door crashed into the wall as Beca walked through, doing the exact opposite of what she wanted. Drawing attention to her.

Every head in the room snapped up, it seemed that Beca was late as the entire Bella's team were already milling around in front of a blank whiteboard. Aubrey and Chloe were stood in front of everyone else, the blonde giving Beca her customary scowl as a greeting, Chloe as usual gave Beca a smile, but the brunette noticed immediately that the smile was strained, like the redhead had had to work extra hard to make her facial muscles work. Beca felt her guilt come back at this, because in the short time she had known the other girl she had realised very quickly that smiling came as easily as breathing to Chloe.

Moving forward into the room Beca ignored the glares that Aubrey was boring into the back of her head, instead keeping her eyes on Chloe.

"Can I have a word." Chloe hesitated for a moment before nodding and followed Beca over to the other side of the room, the other Bella's stared after them curiously, unsure of what to make of the sullen brunette. "Look, I just wanted to…you know…" Another reason Beca hated apologies was that frankly she had never been good at them, and she hated how her words stumbled out of her mouth. Chloe said nothing, instead she crossed her arms over her chest, an expectant look on her face. She wasn't going to make this easy.

"Last night, after the party, when you saw me outside that dorm." Chloe raised her eyebrows. "I was…" Beca paused again, determined to push the words out. "…out of line." It wasn't an apology but it was a start, not that Chloe was biting, the expression on her face hadn't changed. "I shouldn't have reacted like that; I tend to be grumpy." Chloe's eyebrows rose even higher and she barely hid a smirk, Beca soldiered on ignoring the look. "And that sometimes get worse when I drink, so I shouldn't have said the things I did. So I guess what I'm trying to say is…I'm sorry."

It was harder to say than she had anticipated and as she finished speaking she watched the redhead warily, Chloe looked like she was deep in thought but after a second her expression brightened and a beam broke out across her face.

"That's ok! I'd forgotten all about it!"

"Oh, good."

"So friends?" Chloe asked, Beca didn't really have much choice.

"Err yeah, sure." She muttered. "Friends." The word had barely made it out of her mouth before Chloe had pulled her into a hug. Beca stiffened immediately at the contact, fighting down the urge to pull away and put as much distance between herself and the other girl. Mercifully Chloe let go of her a few seconds later fixing her with another bright look.

"Come on, we'd better get back before Aubrey loses her patience."

"I'm not sure she ever found it." Beca grumbled as she begrudgingly allowed herself to be pulled back over to the group.

Chloe had been lying. She had not forgotten about the argument from the night before, in fact, the thought of it had kept her up for most of the night, and distracted for most of the day. She didn't know why fighting with Beca had had such an effect on her, she barely knew the girl. But Chloe wanted the chance, she knew there was more to Beca than met the eye, she just needed the other girl to let her in enough to find it.

Aubrey had lost count of the amount of times she'd had to repeat a question or a statement that day because whenever she looked up the redhead staring off into space, lost in her thoughts. Aubrey had asked again and again what was the matter and every time Chloe would shake her head and say it was nothing, but Aubrey was suspicious. She had never seen her best friend so…serious.

Now as Aubrey watched the interaction between the small brunette and the redhead her eyes narrowed, her suspicions flooding back. Beca Mitchell had done something; she was sure of it.

* * *

By the time practice had finished Beca was sorely tempted to throw in the towel, walk out of the gym and go and tell her father that she was done. That he could stuff his free college education, he could stuff his clubs and he could stuff his money. She would make it to LA on her own, she didn't need him for anything, especially if it meant having to do a cappella.

Practice had been, for want of a better word exhausting. First Aubrey had expelled two girls for 'fraternizing with the enemy', Beca had scoffed at Chloe's statement the previous evening that she was lucky that Aubrey hadn't seen her with the blonde a cappella girl, but as one of the girls had fled for the room as if a pack of wild wolves were snapping at her heels Beca was relieved that the captain _didn't_ know, because she was sure that although the oath had specifically mentioned Trebles Aubrey wouldn't have any problems bending the rules for Beca. Chloe had caught Beca's eye during the rant and given her a quick wink, she was clearly remembering their conversation too.

After she had downed the team by two Aubrey had laid out her plans for the Bella's path back to the ICCA's with military precision, each point was made with a slap to the whiteboard that never failed to make the girls in the audience jump. Aubrey's gaze had drilled into each of them, daring them to challenge a word of what she had said.

Naturally Beca couldn't pass up such an opportunity.

"There's nothing from this century on here." She piped up, shaking the list of songs that Aubrey had just passed out.

"That's because we don't stray from tradition. Now this is how we will become champions." Aubrey had acted like Beca had barely spoken, but the flash in her eyes betrayed just what she thought of the brunette's interjection.

She had punished Beca with the running. Beca didn't usually mind physical exercise, she ran on occasion when she needed to clear her head, but that was nothing compared to what Aubrey put them through for the next two hours.

"My god!" Beca wheezed coming to a stop at the bottom of the steps for what felt like the hundredth time. "What were you in a past life?! A Roman General!" she placed her hands on her knees, trying desperately to get her breath back.

"Did I tell you to stop running Mitchell?" Aubrey asked coldly. Beca glared up at the captain.

"No, but my lungs are currently telling me to stop, if I want to you know? _Not_ die!" Aubrey responded by blowing hard into the whistle that hung around her neck before stalking off to chastise Fat Amy for the third time about her 'horizontal running'. Beca felt a soft hand on her back, rubbing encouraging circles, and looking up saw Chloe standing next to her. The redhead looked like she was barely out of breath, but the beads of sweat that clung to her collar bones and neck gave away her fatigue and momentarily caused Beca's brain to short circuit. Putting it down to her lungs and brain being starved of oxygen Beca forced her legs to move, dislodging Chloe's hand as she ran up the stairs.

By the end of the session Aubrey and Beca had clashed a further five times, about anything and everything the brunette could think to argue about, Chloe knew she was doing it on purpose, that seeing Aubrey's vein pop in her forehead, threatening to burst gave Beca satisfaction, and unfortunately for her best friend, she rose to the bait every time.

"You know you could cut her some slack." Chloe said to Beca as practice finished and the girls were packing up to leave, all in varying stages of exhaustion.

"I could." Beca responded. "But where would be the fun in that?!" Beca gave Chloe a smirk.

"Beca, a word." Beca thought for a moment about ignoring the captain, but decided she had aggravated the blonde enough for one day and reluctantly trudged over.

"You know you'll have to take those ear monstrosities out for the Fall Mixer." Aubrey pointed at the earrings in Beca's ears, her expression telling the brunette that she wanted nothing more than to rip them out herself.

"You really don't like me do you?" Beca raised an eyebrow, deliberately ignoring the older girls statement.

"I don't like your attitude." Aubrey replied, choosing her words carefully.

"You don't even know me." Beca didn't know why she was trying to appeal to Aubrey, she didn't care if the girl liked her or not.

"I've heard more than enough about you to make my mind up." Aubrey sniffed. "And I know you have a toner for Jesse."

Beca laughed at this point. "A what?!"

"A tone. A musical boner." Aubrey explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I saw it at Hood Night."

"Ok, first of all that's not a thing, second of all, if you'd heard as much about me as you claim to then you would know that I have no interest whatsoever in Jesse." Beca leant forward. "In fact I'm far more likely to have a toner for you…but I don't go for uptight bitches." Aubrey's face flushed red angrily at Beca's words. "Thirdly, you're not the boss of me so…"

"You took an oath."

"An oath that's already cost you two girls, and doesn't include anything about a cappella girls." Beca shrugged.

"I'm more than willing to make an exception." Aubrey snarled.

"Face it blondie, you need me more than I need you." Beca smirked, walking away from the brunette and out the door.

"I do not!" Aubrey shouted after Beca's retreating back. Chloe came to stand next to her eyebrows raised.

"What was that about?"

"Beca being _difficult_." Aubrey muttered through gritted teeth. She rounded on her best friend, face still red. "You convinced me to let her join, so from now you are responsible for keeping her in line."

"And just how am I supposed to do that?" Chloe asked as Aubrey stomped away.

"I'm sure you'll think of something."

* * *

"Beca!"

"Look Red if you're here to have a go at me about being mean to your mate, then she started it."

"No, I know how Aubrey can get." Chloe stopped in front of Beca, slightly out of breath. "But she really, really wants to redeem the Bella's reputation this year and so she can get a little bit…"

"Psycho?" Beca offered helpfully.

"…controlling." Chloe finished. "She's good at what she does so maybe you could cut her a bit of slack? For me?"

"Why should I do anything for you?" Beca asked sharply, although there was a glint in her eyes that gave away she wasn't being completely serious.

"You're still trying to get back into my good books from last night?" Chloe replied with a grin.

"I don't generally try to get into anyone's good books. It's too much hassle." Beca snorted. "And that apology, one-time deal, never to be repeated."

"Ohh, if I'd known that I wouldn't have cashed it in for something as trivial as a drunken disagreement."

"You were the only one who was drunk."

"Even so, I wasn't aware of the rules so I think I should be allowed another apology, to be used as and when I see fit." Chloe beamed at the shorter girl.

Beca tried to keep her expression stony, but even she couldn't keep a smile from twitching her lips as Chloe continued to beam at her. "That's not how it works." She chuckled. "But I will think about." The words were added after Chloe's bottom lip looked dangerously close to pouting. Beca didn't know why she was hurrying to keep Chloe happy, it was not something she went out of her way to do, she shook it off by telling herself it was just because of their argument the night before.

"So you'll go easy on Aubrey?" Chloe asked again causing Beca to groan and roll her eyes.

"I will think about it." the brunette repeated. "Look I've got to go, I'm late for a shift at the station."

"Ok, well I'll see you at the next Bella's practice."

"Sure, when is that again?"

"Tomorrow."

"So soon?!" Beca mumbled in surprise.

"You weren't listening to Aubrey when she said we'd be practicing every day were you?"

"No." Was Beca's short reply. "Fine, well I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Chloe watched as Beca slouched away, her beam still in place.

* * *

"What's that smile about?" Beca's face dropped at the sound of Jesse's voice round the shelves. Looking up she saw the brown haired boy peering round the shelf, a smug smile on his face.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm not smiling." Beca replied flipping to the next page of her magazine.

"You so totally were." Jesse crowed coming round to stand next to her. "You were grinning to yourself, who were you thinking about?"

"Even if I was smiling, which I wasn't, what makes you think it was about someone."

"People in movies only smile like that when they're thinking about someone, a _special_ someone." Jesse nudged her.

"We're not in a movie Jesse, this is real life. Nobody actually looks like that."

"They do." Jesse insisted. "My dad looked like that every day when he was thinking about my mum." Beca rolled her eyes, which was not unnoticed by Jesse but he let it slide. "So who is she?"

"There is no she!" Beca protested, although she knew it was pointless. Jesse had that far away misty look in his eyes that he only got when he was talking about movies.

"You'll tell me," Jesse said knowingly. "So why were you late today?"

Beca was happy for the change of subject. "First Bella's practice." She grunted.

"Ohh how was it?" Jesse asked eagerly. "If it was anything like the first Trebles practice than I'm willing to bet it was aca-awesome!" he sang the last word, grinning widely.

"Not you too!"

"But it's true! This year is going to be so amazing." Jesse was still grinning, even though he had agreed to audition for the Trebles to keep Beca company he really enjoyed the whole a cappella experience and Beca knew it.

"My god, you're insufferable." she grumbled.

"What did you guys do?"

"Lots of running."

"Running?!" Jesse looked confused.

"Yep, apparently we need excellent cardio if we're going to be good singers." Beca looked over at Jesse who was struggling to contain his giggles. "Shut up!" she muttered thumping him on the arm.

"One of these days we'll make it through an entire day without you abusing me in some way." He moaned.

"Grow the fuck up." Beca huffed before walking off.

"You're so rude!" Jesse called after her.

"Bite me!" the brunette growled from the booth, causing Jesse to laugh loudly.

* * *

By the time the weekend rolled around the Bella's had had three more practices and Beca was exhausted. In between classes, practice and her new overnight shifts at the radio station she wasn't finding much time to sleep, and when Beca was sleep deprived she was grumpy, grumpier than usual. This grumpiness was not unnoticed by the other Bella's who had learnt very quickly to give the brunette a wide berth, especially when her eyebrows knitted together in a frown, and her eyes flashed.

The only Bella not respecting the warning signs was Chloe, who found Beca's grumpiness a great source of amusement, the redhead took every opportunity she could to tease Beca despite the brunette's death glares she shot her way every time she poked Beca in the side or ruffled her hair.

"Will you quit it." Beca had growled at Chloe, running a hand through her hair after Chloe had mussed it up for the third time that practice.

"And miss the look on your face." Chloe chirped skipping away. "Never." Beca groaned and scowled after the redhead, she was being reminded forcibly why it was that she didn't like socialising with people.

A loud whistle blast right next to her ear caused her to wince, looking up she saw Aubrey standing over her, whistle dangling from her mouth and eyes flashing with annoyance. "We need to go over the choreography again, so when you're finished slacking off it'd be lovely if you could join us." She hissed.

"I didn't realise breathing was slacking off." Beca muttered under her breath, unfortunately for her Aubrey heard her.

"I think you need to do some laps Mitchell."

"You have got to be…

"Joking? No." Aubrey pointed at the stairs. "Go."

"Piss off Pukey." Beca mumbled, certain that Aubrey was out of earshot this time.

Choreography was Beca's second least favourite thing about practice, behind running, she didn't like being told how to move her body and like everything else that Aubrey asked her to do resisted heavily.

"Beca, you're not in time again!" Aubrey sighed, rubbing her eyes.

"My arms are tired from running." Beca replied.

"I don't care, everyone else is tired!" Beca opened her mouth to reply but Chloe placed a hand on her arm, sending the brunette a pointed look.

"I'll help her!" Chloe's words put a stop to anything that Aubrey might have had to say as well, allowing the captain to flounce off.

Chloe pressed up behind Beca as they started the routine again, hands sliding down her forearms so she could guide her hands through the motions, she didn't fail to notice that as soon as she had stepped up behind her Beca's body had stiffened, as she did whenever there was some unwanted contact. The brunette never seemed to tolerate close contact for more than a few seconds and sure enough less than a minute later Beca had squirmed away. "I got it thanks." she said, not looking at the redhead.

By the end of practice Beca could barely keep her eyes open and she still had a shift at the radio station to get through, Beca was mid yawn when Chloe bounced over to her and threw an arm round her shoulder, the smaller girl froze immediately mid yawn, but Chloe didn't seem to notice.

"Hey I have a great idea." The redhead grinned, getting the attention of the rest of the Bella's who were all in various stages of exhaustion and looking very relieved that practice was over. At Chloe's words the girl's looked up warily, worried that Chloe had some fresh physical exertion planned masquerading as a 'great idea'. "Let's all go out tomorrow night, as a team!"

"I don't think that's the best idea." Aubrey said stiffly.

"Oh come on Bree." Chloe said. "It would do us all some good to bond together outside of practice, we can go and do something fun."

Aubrey pursed her lips as she thought. "Ok fine." She relented finally. "But remember we have that Mixer next week and we need to be prepared."

"Yay!" Chloe squealed, her arm still round Beca's shoulder who was feeling so uncomfortable that she didn't quite know what to do with herself, so she kept her body rigid hoping that Chloe would get the hint and remove her arm. "So we'll meet up tomorrow night, head out into town?"

"You know; tomorrow night doesn't work for me." Beca spoke up suddenly, ducking out from Chloe's arm and scooping her bag up from the floor, she started towards the door. She had learnt quickly that the only way to get out of practice on time was to say goodbye whilst on the go.

"What?! Why not?" Chloe demanded.

"I have plans sorry. But you guys should all definitely go out and have fun, I'll hear all about it next week."

"Well I don't…" Chloe started.

"That's a shame! But we will thank you!" Aubrey interrupted her friend, shooting her a triumphant grin.

"Cool, right well I have to get going so enjoy your weekends!" Beca had made it to the door and with a sharp wave disappeared from sight before Chloe could protest anymore.

* * *

By the time the following evening night rolled Chloe couldn't wait to go out. Although Aubrey had suspended practice that day, albeit _very_ reluctantly, she had insisted that Chloe spend most of the day going over Bella's strategy with her. Chloe had tried to point out that considering they were planning on using the same set that really their strategy, as usual she ended up regretting the words as soon as they were out of her mouth. Aubrey had puffed herself up, huffing angrily that _yes_ they were using the same set, but they had different girls, and the girls they had needed a different approach. They needed moulding into Bella's.

The argument that had ensued still lingered by the time Chloe and Aubrey met up with the rest of the Bella's in town later that evening. Chloe attached herself to Stacie, engaging the taller girl in conversation about the night ahead, whilst Aubrey was left with Fat Amy who immediately launched into a long story about dingo wrestling, parts of which had Aubrey quite scared.

"Hey, isn't that Shortstack?" Fat Amy said suddenly.

"Who?" Aubrey asked, mystified.

"Shortstack?" Amy repeated with a 'duh' expression on her face. At Aubrey's still confused expression the other girl pointed up the road ahead of them. "Beca!"

At the sound of the brunette's name Chloe's head shot up, following Amy's finger. Sure enough up ahead leaning outside the wall of small bar was Beca's familiar silhouette. The brunette hadn't seen them and as the group headed up the street towards her she flicked the butt of the cigarette she had been smoking away from her into the dark and headed back inside.

"Oh no!" Aubrey grabbed Chloe's arm as she made to lead the girls into the bar. "We are NOT going in there."

"Awwww come on Bree, we need somewhere to go and drink." Aubrey shook her head fiercely even though the rest of the girls were nodding their agreement with Chloe. Looking up at the bar Aubrey's expression soured further, the outside was shabby with peeling paint and crumbling bricks. The sound of heavy bass was coming from inside and Lily was already inching towards the door, a look of macabre delight on her face.

"One drink." Aubrey pointed at Chloe. The redhead nodded, before taking Aubrey's hand and pulling her inside the bar.

The inside of the bar was just as shabby, if not more so than the outside. Low lighting made the place feel cramped and dark, even though the space was actually quite large. A long bar was stretched along the left hand side with a few battered stools scattered in front of it, at the back of the of the room was a small stage where a band was setting up some equipment. Aubrey chose not to look too closely at the stains on the walls as the Bella's moved through towards the bar.

There was no sign of Beca and the patrons that were in the bar were watching them closely, the Bella's were by far the youngest people in the bar, and made up majority of the women who were there. A couple of the men by the bar grinned at Aubrey as she passed by causing the brunette to quicken her pace to stick closer to Chloe.

Chloe stepped up to the bar to take drinks orders. The barman gave them all the once over, and after apparently deciding he couldn't be bothered ID'ing them shrugged and turned to get the drinks.

"I hope they have a nice Merlot." Aubrey muttered. Chloe laughed as she turned back to her best friend and pushed a bottle of beer into her hand.

"Think you're setting your sights a little high there Bree." She grinned clinking her own bottle Aubrey's. "Relax, try and have some fun!"

Whatever Aubrey had been about to say next was cut off by the sound of instruments coming from the other end of the room. Chloe grabbed Aubrey's hand and pulled her down towards the stage where the band had now set up and were finishing off their sound checks.

"Hi there." A deep voice boomed around the room, amplified by a microphone. The owner of the voice was a man in his early twenties wearing ripped jeans and a worn band t-shirt, his guitar was in his hands and he picked at the strings as he looked out at the crowd. "We are The Sickness…" Aubrey's nose wrinkled at the name. "…and we're gonna play a few songs for you tonight." There was a couple of cheers from the patrons of the bar, apparently The Sickness had played before.

"Now before we start, our usual singer, Haley, couldn't be with us tonight as she decided to start throwing up half an hour before we were due to go on." The man continued. "So, instead, we'd like to invite our sometimes guitar player and resident midget Beca to come and sing for us!"

All of the Bella's eyes widened as one when Beca stepped up from her place at the back of the stage, punching her bandmate in the arm as she went past, a smirk pulling at her lips.

Stopping in front of the microphone Beca's smirk dimmed a little when she looked out into the audience and saw the entirety of the Bella's staring back at her. Chloe grinned immediately and waved, her smile widening when she saw Beca roll her eyes slightly. "Hey there guys, I wouldn't usually sing but Mark and the guys were really in a bind so I can give you a couple of songs I guess." A look back to the band saw Mark blow a kiss her way before she turned her attention back to the crown. "Now we have some special guests in the audience today, you're very lucky to be in the presence of the Barden Bella's! So watch your language guys!" a ripple of laughter went round the patrons of the bar as all eyes fixed on the group of girls in front of the stage. Chloe heard a couple of people asking who the Barden Bella's were but a few were nodding their heads in recognition, it seemed a cappella was known even in a rock dive bar off campus, Chloe noted with a smile. Fat Amy gave a loud 'whoop!' and threw her hands into the air, causing Beca to shake her head as she continued to speak.

"So this song we're going to start off with is called 'Innocence'" Beca stepped back from the mic and started strumming her guitar, the intro filling the room as the drums kicked in.

 _You see it from the outside_

 _You're running towards the wall_

 _Swinging from your blind side_

 _But you don't know me at all_

 _I've been here too many times before_

 _And your tears don't mean a_

 _I only come when you scream_

Beca's voice, amplified by the mic swelled round the room and Chloe knew that hers weren't the only eyebrows that were raised as the raw power of the brunette's voice was revealed, her voice was lower, huskier than any of the Bella's had heard in practice and it complemented the style of the music perfectly.

 _Child, don't follow me home_

 _You're just too perfect for my hands to hold_

 _If you choose to stay, you'll throw it all away_

 _And I just want to take your innocence_

 _Is this what you wanted_

 _Did I make your dreams come true?_

 _You're sitting in a corner_

 _Wondering what you got into_

 _And you ache for things you don't understand_

 _That your tears don't mean a thing_

 _I only come when you scream_

Beca's presence had completely changed on stage, gone was the slouched grumpy figure that had become familiar to Chloe in rehearsals, now she stood upright, suddenly appearing much taller, dominating the stage, her hands dancing over her guitar. Her eyes sparkled with something that Chloe had never seen before, an inner fire that was infectious, it could be felt in the crowd, people who previously were on their feet were now standing cheering as the brunette belted out the lyrics with such power and emotion that Chloe felt a shiver shoot down her spine.

 _Child, don't follow me home_

 _You're just too perfect for my hands to hold_

 _If you choose to stay, you'll throw it all away_

 _And I just want to take your innocence_

 _There's no such thing as fate_

 _Only yourself to blame, you never walked away_

The song seemed quite sad as Chloe listened, she couldn't pinpoint why but there seemed to be something behind it, lingering just below the surface that wasn't immediately noticeable but as Beca moved to sing the chorus one last time the emotion rolled out into the crowd. Chloe couldn't work out if it was the lyrics, or the way Beca was singing, eyes drifting closed as she gave herself over to the music.

 _Child, don't follow me home_

 _You're just too perfect for my hands to hold_

 _If you choose to stay, you'll throw it all away_

 _And I just want to take your innocence_

Beca's eyes opened and met with Chloe's as she hit the last line and the brunette held the redheads gaze as she sang the last few words. There was something in the brunette's eyes that Chloe knew was just for her, a message that she couldn't decipher, but it was tinged with the same sadness that had run through the song. Then the song finished and Beca was looking away, her eyes scanning the crowd again as they roared their approval. Looking to the Bella's as her side Chloe saw they all had similar looks on their faces.

"Well that was unexpected." Cynthia-Rose commented. The other girls all voiced their agreement except Aubrey and Lily, Aubrey because looked like she still couldn't quite believe where she was, and Lily because nobody could hear her over the noise in the bar, that and she was examining one of the stains on the walls with a fascination that Chloe didn't know she was all that comfortable with.

The opening chords of a new song pulled the Bella's out of the discussion and their attention back to the stage where Beca had started playing again.

"This song is a little more fun." The brunette was saying, throwing a smile back to her band. "it's called 'Dirty Mind'" Aubrey's eyes rose at the name of the song and Chloe had a feeling her best friend wasn't going to like what was about to come.

She was right.

 _I just called to hear you breathe_

 _Whisper in my ear_

 _Tell me everything I need to hear_

 _It seems like the love we make_

 _Is just as good when you're away_

 _Things you say I can feel_

 _I don't need to have you here_

 _To feel you crashing into me_

 _I'm better of this way, yeah_

 _Not hearing me complain_

 _And I don't need to taste your lips_

 _I've satisfied my appetite_

 _Me and my dirty mind_

 _Been working overtime_

The song was lighter, more playful, and Beca's demeanour had changed to suit the change in tempo. Where before she had been stood in one space, as if the song had anchored her to the spot not letting her move, now she moved freely away from the mic between verses, fingers dancing over the strings of her guitar with impressive speed. Beca seemed to take genuine delight in the lyrics she was singing, her smirk was playful as her eyes roved over the people in the crowd.

 _I hear your voice on the phone_

 _Imagine what you're wearing_

 _To do something right gotta do it myself, yeah_

 _You left me here all alone_

 _I take matters into my own hands_

 _I might just burn in hell, yeah_

 _I don't need to have you here_

 _To feel you crashing into me_

 _I'm better off this way, yeah_

 _Not hearing me complain_

 _And I don't need to taste your lips_

 _I've satisfied my appetite_

 _Me and my dirty mind_

 _Been working overtime._

 _Can you keep up? Is that all you got?_

 _You're wasting all my precious time_

Once again Beca's ocean blue eyes connected with Chloe's ice blue ones and the redhead found herself rooted to the spot, Beca smirked as she sang, seeming to realise the effect she was having on the other girl.

 _Don't need your permission_

 _Turn the ignition, and I'll race you to_

 _The_ _finish_ _line_

The words came out almost like a purr, and the brunette accompanied them with a slow sultry wink, making sure Chloe looked at her the entire time, the wink seemed almost like a promise to Chloe, of what she wasn't sure but there was a part of her that really wanted to find out. The action caused a rush of desire to shoot through Chloe's body and for a moment she was sure that her knees were going to buckle, she knew without seeing it that her pupils had probably dilated and a red flush crept up her neck unbidden. If the widening of Beca's smirk was anything to go by the small brunette knew exactly what she was doing. A moment later she broke her gaze away from Chloe's, breaking the spell and releasing the redhead, Chloe took a deep shuddering breath and took a hurried gulp of her drink.

 _I don't need to have you here_

 _To feel you crashing into me_

 _I'm better of this way, yeah_

 _Not hearing me complain_

Still not quite recovered Chloe chanced another glance upwards, Beca wasn't looking at her anymore, her gaze was fixed elsewhere as the song wrapped up, following the line of her sight Chloe saw that the brunette had picked out another girl in the crowd, a slightly older woman with dirty blonde hair and appeared to be subjecting her to the same intense gaze that had held Chloe captivated mere seconds before. Sure enough the wink followed a moment later and Chloe saw the other woman colour visibly before biting her lip seductively.

 _And I don't need to taste your lips_

 _I've satisfied my appetite_

 _Me and my dirty mind_

 _Been working overtime_

 _Working overtime_

As the song finished Chloe drained the last of her beer, feeling a little foolish. Of course Beca hadn't only been paying attention to her, she wasn't renowned as a womaniser for nothing and Chloe had seen first-hand the results of Beca's charms only a few nights previously at Hood Night. Trying not to identify the feeling in her stomach that was annoyingly close to disappointment Chloe pushed her way to the bar, determined to drink her way through it.

The redhead could see quite easily why so many girls' ended up in Beca Mitchell's bed, even when she was being grumpy, rude and aloof the brunette exuded an air of alluring mystery that made her seem unattainable, a challenge for anyone who wanted to change her.

But when Beca tried, when she turned on the charm, she was transformed. Her performance on the stage was _hot_ and Chloe had no problem using that word, she had learnt to appreciate the female form a long time ago, it came in handy when looking for Aubrey's vision of a perfect Bella. And whilst Beca might not be the traditional image of sexy, at least in Aubrey's eyes, there was no denying that when she was on stage Beca commanded the attention of everyone in the room, no girl stood a chance.

"There you are!" Chloe was pulled from her admiration by Aubrey's relieved squawk. "You _cannot_ leave me on my own in here!" the blonde hissed in Chloe's ear, her eyes darting furtively around the bar.

"It's not that bad!" Chloe accepted her beer over the bar and sipped at it whilst Aubrey fussed next to her. "Who knew that Beca would be in a band huh?"

"Yes, that is surprising." Aubrey inched closer to Chloe as a huge man covered in tattoos pushed his way to the bar next to her, shouting for the barman. "Although the fact that her band plays in a place like this doesn't surprise me in the least."

"I like it!" Chloe said brightly. "It's just got a certain charm to it."

"Yes, dark, dirty and creepy is very charming." Aubrey muttered.

"Lighten up Bree." Chloe nudged her friend with her shoulder before turning her attention back to the stage. "She's very talented." She remarked a moment later as they watched Beca finish another song, dragging out the last note to rapturous applause.

Aubrey grunted in response. "I suppose so. Doesn't change that she's difficult as hell."

"You do pick on her." Chloe pointed out.

"She goads me!" Aubrey replied haughtily.

"And you rise to the bait _every_ single time." Chloe laughed. "If you ignored her once in a while, I'm sure she'd back off." Aubrey snorted and shot Chloe a disbelieving look. Even Chloe didn't quite believe it, Beca would not stop just because Aubrey ignored her, but she felt compelled to defend the brunette.

Beca sang three more songs before the bands set came to a close. All of the Bella's, bar Aubrey who had been outvoted in her decision to leave, had decided they liked the bar and had settled down into seats round a table and were all chatting animatedly, Chloe looked at them happily as she ordered another round of drinks with Aubrey at the bar, team bonding seemed to be working. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Beca hop down off the stage and saunter over towards them.

"Chloe, Pukey." She greeted them with a smirk.

"Aubrey." The blonde replied stiffly.

"Isn't that what I said?" Beca responded. Aubrey was clenching her teeth so tightly that Chloe worried that she was going to break some of them.

"I thought you were a DJ?" The redhead blurted out, partly out of curiosity and partly to stop Aubrey glaring at Beca like she was going to punch her.

"What?" Beca seemed unaffected by Aubrey's death glare and was leaning casually against the bar. She looked more relaxed that Chloe had seen her, limbs no longer awkwardly placed but propped on the bar with legs crossed, she had an easy confidence that Chloe couldn't help but think looked very good on her.

"I thought you were a DJ," she repeated as Aubrey stalked away, the Bella's drinks balancing on a tray. "I didn't know that you were in a band."

"There's a whole lot you don't know about me Beale." Beca said, her eyes flashing again, turning back to the bar she raised a hand, the barman nodded immediately and a few seconds later two shots of whiskey were placed on the bar in front of them. "I want to DJ for a living," the brunette carried on a second later. "The band is just some fun, I practice with them now and again and like tonight when they're down I fill in, but I like it, being up on stage and playing guitar there's something about it that's different to mixing, but just as fulfilling. I think being able to physically create the music you know, as well as manipulate it like I do with my mixes." It was the most personal thing Chloe had ever heard the brunette say, and for a moment she didn't quite know how to react.

"It looks good on you. Being up on stage, you seem…softer." Beca laughed sharply.

"Well we can't be having that, I'll have to rethink my stage persona." She shook her head and turned back to the bar, picking up one of the shots she handed it to Chloe.

"Are you even old enough to drink Miss Mitchell?" Chloe asked playfully, Beca raised an eyebrow and putting her hand in her pocket flashed her ID at the redhead long enough for her see the birthday, which showed Beca to be 22. "That's a very good fake."

"Yep so good it's real." Beca replied pushing the shot into Chloe's hand. "I started college a couple of years late."

"How comes?"

The sparkle dimmed in Beca's eyes and a dark expression flitted across her face at Chloe's question, but it was only there for a second before her face cleared and she smiled, albeit a little tightly. "Some stuff came up." Chloe could tell by the tone of her voice that that was the last thing she would say on the surface, so she didn't push the issue, although her curiosity had definitely been piqued.

Aubrey came back up to the bar as the two of them were downing their shots. "Whiskey Chlo?" the blonde wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"It's not that bad." Chloe coughed the liquor burning the back of her throat. Beca laughed at the redhead's obvious discomfort and signalled the barman again.

"Here you go blondie," Beca said passing a shot glass to Aubrey, who took it gingerly as if it was going to explode in her hand. "Loosen up a little."

"Err, thanks?" the words came out almost as question as if the blonde wasn't sure if she should say them.

"You're welcome."

"Look at you two bonding!" Chloe beamed throwing an arm round Aubrey and Beca's shoulder. "You're going to be totes amazing friends, I knew it!" Beca and Aubrey both looked to each other and then Chloe dubiously, when Chloe looked at Beca a moment later she saw a mischievous glint in her eyes, a mischievous glint that gave Chloe the feeling she wasn't going to like what the brunette had to say.

"So Red, you never showed me that tattoo of yours in the shower the other week." Chloe's mouth dropped open as Aubrey, who had just started to down her shot spat it back out, coughing harshly, her eyes wide with surprise.

"Chlo!" the blonde spluttered as Beca leant back, a smug smile on her face. "What the hell?!"

"Did she not tell you?" Beca smirked. Chloe looked to her best friend sheepishly as Aubrey's face turned steadily redder and redder.

"Tell me you didn't?!" Aubrey screeched. Chloe frowned, confused for a moment before apprehension dawned on her face.

"No! God no Bree! That's kinda…how I convinced her to come to auditions."

"Chloe! What have I told you…" Aubrey was trying to sound outraged but it wasn't helped by the coughing fit that doubled her over halfway through her sentence. "…told you about barging in on people when they're naked!" she recovered finally and turned a stern glare at her best friend.

"So you do this a lot?" Beca feigned a hurt look. "I thought I was special!"

"No! It's happened like once…" seeing the look on Aubrey's face Chloe hastily added. "…ok like three times, and it's not my fault people don't lock their doors!"

"I can't even!" Throwing her hands up in the air Aubrey stalked off, leaving Chloe and Beca alone at the bar again.

"Thanks for that, there's going to be hell to pay when I get home." Chloe pouted.

"That was for insinuating that Pukey and I are friends." Beca replied, unfazed by Chloe's puppy dog eyes.

* * *

Chloe pushed open the door to the bar and stepped outside into the cool night air, the mixture of alcohol and the hot stuffy air inside the bar had her head spinning. Leaning back against the wall Chloe tipped her head back, breathing deeply she savoured the feeling of the crisp night air rushing down her throat, helping to clear the fog from her brain.

The evening had been going very well Chloe thought as the sound of laughed drifted out of the bar, Fat Amy's voice and laugh louder than anyone else's. The bonding idea had been a good one, Chloe could already feel some of the tensions that had permeated their rehearsals starting to dissipate as the girl's got to know each other. Even Aubrey had loosened up enough to engage Stacie in an animated conversation about choreography.

The only Bella not involved in the bonding was, predictably, Beca. She had sat at the table for a while chatting to Fat Amy before she was dragged away by her band members. Chloe hadn't seen much of her after that but the glimpses she had seen of the brunette had shown that she had managed to find the woman she'd been flirting with in the crowd earlier. Chloe had stopped looking after that.

The sound of the door opening next to her pulled Chloe from her thoughts.

"Oh sorry," the man who'd just stumbled out of the door mumbled round the cigarette that dangled from his lips. "Didn't realise there was anyone out here."

"That's ok." Chloe replied with an easy smile. The man was young with mousey brown hair that fell forward over his face and a roughish good looks, he leant heavily against the wall, clearly very drunk, and pulling a lighter out of his pocket he flicked it on and tried unsuccessfully several times to ignite the end of his cigarette. After watching him for a few seconds Chloe stepped up and prised the lighter out of his hands, lighting it on the first time.

"Thanks." The guy muttered, he took along drag of the cigarette. "Do you want one?"

"Oh no, I don't smoke." Chloe waved him away with a flick of her hand. "I'm a singer, it would ruin my vocal chords." She tapped her throat for emphasis.

"A singer? You with that group in there then?" the man jerked his head back towards the bar.

Chloe nodded eagerly. "Yeah, the Barden Bella's."

"What kind of music do you sing?" the man asked, taking another pull of his cigarette and allowing the smoke to drift out of his mouth and up into the night air.

"Covers mostly. We're an a cappella group." Chloe said proudly, at the guys confused look she carried on. "We don't use any instruments, just our mouths."

"I see, so what you guys doing in a place like this? Doesn't seem like somewhere you'd usually hang out." The man grinned, moving a little closer along the wall towards her.

"One of our members is in the band, The Sickness?" Chloe responded as he took another step towards her.

"Ahhh yeah, the small one. She was pretty good." Chloe nodded her agreement. "I'm Brad by the way." Extending a hand Brad flashed her a charming lopsided grin.

"Chloe." The redhead replied shaking his hand, his fingers lingered on hers for a moment too long and Chloe pulled her hand away as subtly as she could.

"Nice to meet you Chloe." Brad regarded her from under his eye lashes, cigarette tucked in the corner of his mouth. Chloe gave a tight smile, a slight uneasiness creeping up on her as he looked at her, she attempted to move back towards the door but Brad pushed off the wall and placed himself between her and the door.

"You're not leaving are, you should stay, at least until I've finished my cigarette." He pouted, taking yet another slow drag. Chloe took a breath, plastering a bright fake smile on her face.

"I would but I should probably get back to my friends," she gestured at the bar.

"Awwww come on, don't be a spoilsport. Stay." Chloe stepped to the side but Brad moved with her, his smile widening.

"I really should…"

"You're pretty hot Chloe." Brad stepped forward, he was now less than a few feet away from her, his smile didn't look so charming anymore, more like a leer. "You and me could have some fun."

"No thank you." Chloe said firmly, "I really need to get back inside." Her next attempt to move past Brad was more determined, as was his attempt to stop her.

"Come on babe." he slurred, now that he was so close Chloe could see that his eyes were a little unfocused, and she could smell the alcohol rolling off of him.

"I said no thank you." She replied stiffly, still trying to be polite as possible. As Brad moved even closer she took a few steps back, panic starting to rise in her chest. This was it seemed the wrong move, as it gave Brad the chance to herd her away from the door and round a corner into an alley.

"Look I really need to go." Chloe couldn't help the shrillness in her voice as her back hit the wall and Brad closed in on her.

"You don't need to go anywhere," Brad pressed himself up against her, his mouth bumping clumsily against her jaw as his hands dug painfully into her hips. Chloe turned her head to the side, trying to get away from his lips that were seeking her own. "Why are you fighting this?" Brad murmured against her cheek.

"Please stop." Chloe whimpered, her heart was beating ten times faster than usual in her chest, feeling like it was about to explode out of her chest and the fear was coursing through her blood like molten lead.

"Oh come on, we're just having some _fun_." On the last word Brad grabbed her face with one hand and forced her to look at him before slamming his lips against her own. Chloe's scream was muffled by his mouth, his tongue thrusting past her lips roughly.

Chloe's instincts kicked in, permeating the cloud of fear that hung around her brain. She bit down on Brad's lower lip. Hard.

"Fucking hell." He grunted pulling his mouth away from hers, wiping the blood of his lips he looked back up at her, menace flashing through the drunken fog. "You bitch!" he growled, the hand that was holding her face pushed her hard into the wall, Chloe winced as she felt her cheek scrape against the wall, the rough brickwork drawing blood.

"Please!" she begged. "Stop."

Brad's only response was to bring his right hand up palming her breast roughly as his other hand fumbled haphazardly at her waist. The sound of his belt being unbuckled made Chloe's blood run cold and she intensified her efforts to get free.

"Help!" her cry was punished by a sharp slap to the face.

"Shut up!"

"HEY!"

At the sound of a new voice both Brad and Chloe looked to the entrance of the alleyway, a figure had emerged round the corner, Chloe recognised it immediately.

"Get the hell off of her!" Beca flung the cigarette she had been smoking away from her and charged up the alley. A frown crossed Brad's face as he took in the small brunette hurtling towards him, before he could react Beca had slammed into him, arms wrapping round his waist and tackling him to the floor away from Chloe.

Brad groaned loudly as all the breath was knocked from his lungs, Beca scrambled to her feet quickly as Brad stumbled to his, facing off against the small girl a smirk stretched his lips. "That was not a good idea."

"Oh yeah," Beca challenged, rearing up on the balls of her feet. "Prove it!" the words were barely out of her mouth when Brad charged forward, swinging wildly with his right fist. Beca ducked, but not quite quick enough, his fist glanced off the side of her head and she stumbled back, dazed. Pressing his advantage Brad surged forward again, grasping Beca by the shoulders he slammed her into the wall, sinking his fist into her stomach at the same time. Chloe gasped as Beca doubled over with a grunt, but a second later the brunette had lashed out with her foot catching him in the shin, causing him to hop away cursing loudly.

Beca's punch caught him square on the jaw and for the second time in less than a minute Brad hit the ground. He was back up again quickly though and Beca's triumphant expression faded as he glared at her, his eyes seeming sharper than they had mere moments before. Grabbing the front of her shirt Brad tugged the brunette towards him, his fist connecting with her face once, twice, and a third time. As he pulled back for a fourth punch Chloe's legs, which up until that point had been frozen in place urged her into action, leaping forward she wrapped her arms around Brad's outstretched fist and hung on for all she was worth. Brad scowled at the resistance and turning his head away from Beca flung Chloe away from him, the redhead crying out as she crashed into the brickwork, pain shooting up her elbow where it had clattered with the wall.

Beca used Brad's momentary distraction to swing her left elbow up into his nose, he howled as the bone crunched loudly. She followed up her first strike with another punch to the chin before delivering a swift kick between his legs. Brad doubled over with a low moan, his hands clutching his crotch, Beca delivered one last punch to the side of his head, knocking him against a bin, upending it into the alley.

Chloe pulled herself to her feet as Beca staggered over panting heavily, the smaller girl gripped Chloe's shoulder, her eyes peering at her worriedly.

"Are you ok?!" she demanded. Chloe couldn't speak, she was still too scared for her vocal chords to even think about working, so she settled for a curt nod, not trusting herself to open her mouth.

It was at that moment that half the Bella's and Beca's bandmates charged round the corner, someone had seen the fight in the alley and rushed into the bar, as soon as the Bella's and the band had heard about a small brunette 'beating the shit' out of some guy they had scrambled for the door, knowing exactly who was fighting.

Five minutes later and the barely conscious Brad was being carried away, none too gently by the members of Beca's band. The Bella's were crowded round their two members, all talking at once, Aubrey looked like she was about to have a heart attack and was breathing so erratically that Stacie had to take her away to get her a glass of water and a paper bag to breathe into.

Now that she was out of immediate danger Chloe realised that she was shaking, violent tremors that rocked her arms and legs, and had her teeth chattering loudly in her skull. She was having trouble wrapping her head around just what might have happened if Beca hadn't come round the corner, what Brad would have done. Bringing her arms up and across her chest, Chloe bit back the sob that rose in her throat and threated to tear out of her mouth in a fit of hysteria. She was losing the battle and knew that any moment the fear and panic that had gripped her for the past five minutes, although it seemed more like an eternity, was going to erupt. Suddenly a hand gripped her elbow, the one not damaged by the wall firmly, grounding her and pulling her back towards reality. Looking down Chloe saw Beca looking back up at her.

"Come on." The brunette's voice sounded faint, as if coming from a long way away, but Chloe allowed the other girl to lead her away through the girls, round the corner and back into the bar. Chloe walked, as if in a daze not seeing or hearing anything that was happening around her, focusing entirely of the feeling of the hand that clasped her own, pulling her forward. She was dimly aware of a door opening and Beca guiding her into a room before the door closed with a snap, pulling her back into the moment.

They were in an office, Chloe assumed the manager of the bar, Beca pulled a chair out from the desk and helped Chloe sit down before bobbing down in front of her, dark blue eyes swimming with concern. "Chloe." The redhead blinked at the sound of her name. "Chloe, I need you to focus, are you ok?"

"Yes." Chloe's voice sounded strange, so unlike her usual one, hoarse. Clearing her throat, she nodded to buy time. "I'm ok…just…shaken."

"Yeah, the shock will wear off." Beca's voice was low, softer than Chloe had heard it before and it was soothing, pushing down the waves of panic that still threated to break. It was now as the shock ebbed away that Chloe was able to look at Beca properly for the first time since the fight had stopped and she couldn't help the gasp that left her lips.

Blood caked the left hand side of Beca's face from a large gash above her eyebrow, there was another smaller cut on her right cheek under her eye, which was already starting to bruise. As the brunette straightened up she winced and clutched at her stomach briefly.

"Oh my god." Chloe murmured, her voice breaking slightly as she brought shaking fingers up to trace Beca's bruised face. The brunette hissed softly, her eyes drifting closed briefly. "We need to get you cleaned up." Chloe stood and casting her eyes around the room saw a tiny bathroom off the office and headed for it quickly, she reappeared a moment later with a damp towel clutched in her hands and gestured for Beca to take a seat, which the brunette did, slowly. It was Chloe's turn to bob down in front of her, bringing the towel up she pressed it gently against the cut above her eyebrow. Beca winced, a slow breath leaving her as Chloe probed the wound gently with soft hands, cleaning away the blood.

"Thank you." The redhead said after a few moments of silence. "That was a very brave thing you did."

Beca grunted in response, her left hand rested on her stomach where Brad had punched her. "Anyone would have done the same thing." She replied stiffly.

"No they wouldn't have, can you imagine Aubrey tackling someone to the ground like that?"

"Yes." Beca said immediately. "I worry she's going to do it sometimes to me in practice." Chloe chuckled throatily at her words.

"But still, I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't have come round the corner, so I am in your debt."

"Don't mention it." Beca mumbled, eyes flitting to the floor away from Chloe's intense stare. "What were you doing out there?" the question came a moment later.

"I needed some air." Chloe replied. "It was a bit stuffy in here."

"You shouldn't have been out there alone." Chloe's movements stilled at the brunette's words. "This place, it's not…" Beca sighed heavily and leant back in the chair. "…there are people here who will take advantage of nice girls like you, as you've seen first-hand." She leant forward until her face was a few inches away from Chloe, her eyes locked with the redheads staring intently as if searching for something. "When I came round that corner…" she trailed off again and shook her head, her right hand came up and cupped Chloe's cheek.

"I'm sorry." Chloe murmured.

"You don't have to be sorry. But fuck Chloe, this place isn't for people like you. Why were you here?" Beca asked desperately, her face moving an inch closer.

"I want to know you." Chloe whispered. "I want to know what's behind those walls." At her words something flashed in Beca's eyes, it looked like there was a war going on inside the brunette's head and she exhaled sharply as if she didn't know which side to listen too. Her eyes flitted to her hand on Chloe's cheek, as if realising for the first time what she was doing.

Clearing her throat Beca dropped her hand and stood up. "We should get you back out there. You need to go home"

"I still need to check your stomach." Chloe moved forward her hands coming to grip Beca's shirt so she could pull it up but the other girl's hands moved quicker than she could have anticipated, stilling her movements and shooting her a stern look.

"No, it's fine. Really, I'll deal with it when I get home."

"But…"

"No but's Chlo, I've had worse so it's fine. Come on." Beca's tone left no room for argument and Chloe was forced to nod, although her mind burned with questions about what else Beca could have gone through to be considered 'worse'. Crossing back to the bathroom she rinsed the towel out before coming back into the room, Beca had the door open and was waiting for her, eyes staring down at her shoes.

Beca looked up as Chloe came to a stop next to her. "Ready?"

"Yes." Chloe replied softly, but as Beca made to moved she put a hand on the brunette's shoulder pulling her into a gentle hug, being careful not to squeeze too hard. As she had predicted Beca stiffened immediately at the contact, standing rigid in Chloe's arms and allowed one hand to pat the redhead's back awkwardly. Chloe buried her face in the crook of the smaller girls neck, exhaling deeply. "Thank you." She mumbled into Beca's shirt before pressing a soft kiss to her shoulder.

Unseen by Chloe Beca's eyes squeezed shut as the taller girl continued to hug her, for a lot longer than she would usually tolerate contact, sensing that Chloe needed this she remained still, allowing the redhead the comfort she so clearly needed.

 _What am I doing? Shit._

* * *

 **As always leave me a review letting me know what you thought. Will try and get another chapter up next week but have one of my other stories that I really need to get a chapter done for. Until next time!**

 **Pirate-x-Girls**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for the response to the last chapter it was nice to see that people are liking the story! Sorry that this update was not posted last week like I'd said but I had a weekend away and a crazy weekend at work, and it took a while for me to get this chapter right I'm still not 100% sure about it but I didn't want to play about with it anymore. I'm really enjoying writing this and hope to have a new chapter up in a couple of weeks at the most. But until then please enjoy this one!**

* * *

 **You Call Me A Bitch Like It's A Bad Thing**

 **Chapter 4**

Beca bolted upright in her bed, panting heavily and sheets tangled round her legs, one hand reaching out into the dark, grasping for something she knew wasn't there. It took a couple of seconds for her to realise that she was in her own bed, in her own room. A thin sheen of sweat covered her body and as she swung her legs over the side of the bed she plucked at the material of her sleeping shirt, pulling it away from her body and allowing some of the breeze that filtered in through the partially open window to sooth her hot skin.

Taking a couple of deep breaths, the brunette ran a hand through her hair, waiting until her heart beat had returned to normal before she tried to stand up. Walking on shaky legs over to her desk she placed her hands on the surface, revelling in the feeling of the wood beneath her hands. A quick glance at her alarm clock shower her that it was still before 4am, she had crawled into bed less than three hours ago after finishing a particularly challenging mix she had been working on since she had arrived at Barden.

She had been awoken by a nightmare, the same nightmare she'd had at least once a week for the last three years, the memories of a night she wished that she could forget. The dream was always garbled, out of order. Flashes of screams, the harsh tearing of metal and the continuous sound of a car horn, like an alarm in her brain, going on, and on, and on until eventually she was able to tear herself out of the dream world and back into reality.

Beca curled her hands into a fist, pounding at the desk she growled into the darkness of her room. She hated the feeling of weakness that the dream brought, the helpless way she woke up gasping for air and scared.

Knowing she wouldn't be getting back to sleep anytime soon Beca quickly stripped of her sweaty t-shirt and sleeping shorts wincing as the motion sent pain shooting through the bruise on her stomach. Pulling on her running gear Beca grabbed her keys and headphones before heading out the door.

There was a full moon, its rays helping to light her path as she jogged down the path, music pumping in her ears and helping to drown out the sounds and images of the dream, with each step a dull ache throbbed in her stomach but Beca kept going, using the pain to push herself forward, each footfall pounding on the pavement. She tried to keep her breathing even, inhaling and exhaling on every other step, eyes trained on the path ahead.

It had been two days since the incident at the bar and Beca hadn't spoken to anyone from the Bella's, after escorting Chloe out and leaving her with Aubrey who had calmed down enough to be able to speak the brunette had turned and walked away from the bar as fast as her shaking legs could carry her, refusing to listen to the calls of Chloe and the other Bella's who tried to get her to come back. She had spent the next two days in her room, only emerging to take an overnight shift at the radio station. Luke, the blonde Englishman in charge of the radio station, had stared at her in disbelief at the sight of her face, questions pouring from his mouth, but they had all gone unanswered as Beca had stomped past him, slamming the door shut behind her. He knew better than to press the issue and had left her alone in the station with her thoughts.

Beca slowed as the first spots of rain began to fall, coming to a stop she tilted her head up towards the sky she allowed her eyes to drift shut as the rain intensified, pounding down on her cheeks. The water soothed her bruised face, running in rivets down her neck and into her t-shirt. She stood this way for a few moments more until she was thoroughly drenched, only then did she start running again with renewed vigour, it was as if the rain had washed away the last vestiges of her nightmare, banishing it from her mind.

Until next time.

Beca tried not to dwell on this as she turned a corner round one of the dorm rooms, she was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she wasn't aware of the other person running towards her…until she crashed into them.

"Shit!" Beca hissed as she stumbled backwards, just managing to stay on her feet, pain flared up in her stomach and she pressed a hand to her side, gritting her teeth as she waited for it to subside. Only when it had faded completely did she look up, a scowl already in place, ready to be aimed at whoever she bumped into, although she had a small nagging suspicion that she knew who it might be.

Sure enough, standing in front of her, chewing her lip nervously was a _very_ wet Chloe Beale. Beca took in the way the rain water dripped down the redhead's cheeks, onto her neck and disappeared into the tank top she was wearing and felt her throat go dry. Even in the gloom of the dawn Chloe's eyes sparkled, she was beautiful. The graze she had sustained outside the bar had turned a nasty red and stretched across her left cheek, Beca wanted to reach out and touch it but stopped her hand from moving, the memory of their last encounter inside the office burning fresh in her mind.

It was then that Beca realised that Chloe was speaking. "…really sorry. I guess we just keep meeting like this huh?" Chloe chuckled, almost nervously. Beca licked her lips, forcing her mouth to make words, still distracted by the way the water was running down the other girl's skin.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you were stalking me." She replied finally.

"Pfftt, you wish Mitchell." Chloe giggled, this one more confident. "You're not that special." The redhead shot her a grin and leant back against the wall of the dorm, she was still a little out of breath from running and her chest heaved up and down quickly as she worked to even out her breathing, the motion was not lost on Beca who was working very hard to keep her eyes on Chloe's face.

"I am that special." She smirked, Chloe rolled her eyes.

"If you say so." Looking down the redhead kicked at the floor with her trainer. "So we missed you at practice today." She said after a moment.

"Yeah, I wasn't really feeling it today." Beca gestured to her face by way of explanation, Chloe nodded sympathetically.

"I'd figured as much, that's what I told Aubrey anyway so I don't think she'll make you run laps next time."

"Thanks." Beca smiled, genuinely relieved to have escaped punishment.

"You're welcome." The two girls lapsed into silence, the only sound the pattering of the rain. Neither seemed in any hurry to leave despite the earliness of the hour or the pouring rain, Beca scuffed at the ground shaking her head occasionally to rid the droplets of water from her face, she was usually very comfortable with silence, but there was something about this one that compelled her to speak, not awkwardness because it felt more comfortable than she would have expected, but a genuine desire to find out why Chloe was standing outside at 4am.

"So why couldn't you sleep?" she asked finally, Chloe looked up from her shoes.

"What makes you think I couldn't sleep?"

"Do you often go running at 4am, in the rain?" Beca arched an eyebrow. Chloe shrugged.

"No." she admitted. "I guess I've not really been sleeping and I didn't want to just lie awake in bed, I needed to get rid of some of the…" she paused her eyes dimming slightly. "…the anxiety." She finished a second later. Beca took a step closer, stretching her hand out jerkily she patted the taller girl's shoulder awkwardly in what she hoped was a comforting manner.

"How have you been coping?" Beca asked, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall next to the redhead.

"I'm ok I guess," Chloe said. "I really am so grateful to you for what you did, and I'm sorry you got so…" Chloe's hand came up as if she was going to touch Beca's cheek, but her fingers stopped a hairs breadth away from the brunette's face.

"It's nothing really, and this." Beca gestured to her face again. "Just makes me look more badass." She smiled, not wanting to see the sad look in Chloe's eye continue. At her words a smile stretched Chloe's lips and she shoved Beca lightly with her shoulder.

"If you say so Mitchell." Her eyes linger on the cut above Beca's eye. "Does it hurt?"

"Only a little." Beca shrugged.

"No chance of the bruises fading before the performance?" Chloe asked a teasing smile on her face.

"If you mean the performance taking place in a few hours' time, then no I don't think so."

"Aubrey will be disappointed." Chloe gave a mock sigh.

"Aubrey can go fuck herself." Beca's deadpanned, ignoring the gasp Chloe gave at her words but jumping when the redhead swatted her arm playfully.

"I told you to cut her some slack!"

"I have been; trust me I could have said that to her face!" Beca smirked.

Chloe rolled her eyes again. "I take it you couldn't sleep either?" she asked.

"Not really." Beca said. "I like running in the early morning though, It's quieter, gives me more time to think."

"And what are you thinking about?" Chloe asked. Beca tilted her head to one side and pushing off the wall moved to stand in front of the redhead, who straightened up a little.

"All sorts of things,"

"Would you care to enlighten me about some of those things?" Chloe bit her lip, enjoying the way Beca's eyes flicked down to her lips for a split second before back up to her eyes.

"Not really." The brunette replied coyly.

"Is that because you've been thinking about me?"

"And why would I be thinking about you?" Beca's right eyebrow arched and she gave a small shake of her head to dislodge the raindrops that had collected on her face.

"Because, why wouldn't you?" Chloe replied boldly. Beca chuckled low in her throat and leaned in a little.

"Maybe I have, maybe I haven't."

"You're being such a tease," Chloe murmured.

"Oh trust me Red, you have _no_ idea how much of a tease I can be." Beca purred, spurred on by Chloe's coy smiles and the twinkle in her eyes, without thinking about it Beca moved forward a couple of steps until she was a few inches away from Chloe, bringing her hands up she placed them on either side of the taller girl's body, their faces mere inches from each other.

As Chloe's breath ghosted over her lips the brunette saw something change in the redhead's eyes, a flash of fear. Beca realised her mistake instantly, without realising it she had mimicked Brad's position from outside the bar, trapping Chloe against the wall. All thoughts of kissing Chloe fled from Beca's mind and she jumped back as if she had been burned, her eyes widening. Chloe's body language gave away her panic, she'd curled in on herself and her eyes were even more anxious.

"Oh my god." Beca croaked. "That was so stupid I'm really…"

Chloe shook her head, the look in her eyes dimming. "It's ok." Chloe's voice was a little shaky as she pushed away from the wall. "I'm fine, really." Beca wasn't convinced but the scared look in the redhead's eyes had replaced by one that made it clear she didn't want to discuss the matter further.

The rain had lessened to a light drizzle, but a cold breeze had picked up that caused a shiver to run through Beca's body.

"I should get back, try and get some sleep before the performance later." She mumbled.

"Yeah me too." Chloe replied. "Aubrey will be up soon." She took a step towards the brunette, looking like she wanted to say something more but at the last moment seemed to change her mind. Instead she bid Beca goodbye and jogged off back up the path.

Once back in the quiet of her dorm room Beca stripped of once again and grabbing her towel and dressing gown headed for the shower. For five minutes she stood perfectly still, allowing the hot water to soothe her aching muscles, eyes clothes and face titled into the stream. After the aches had faded and she could move her limbs without wincing she began to wash her hair, and let her mind wander back to her most recent interaction with Chloe. She couldn't believe she had been so stupid as to not realise what she had been doing with her arms. "You're an idiot Mitchell." She muttered out loud and she tugged through a persistent knot in her hair. Her voice echoed round the empty, Beca had checked, shower room agreeing with her in an almost mocking manner.

Not only had she made the heinous mistake of taking Chloe back to the events of the night outside the bar, but it was what Beca had been about to do which also had her cursing her own judgement. Had she not realised her mistake, she would have kissed Chloe, she wanted to kiss Chloe. That in itself wasn't all that strange, Beca wanted to kiss a lot of people and there was no denying that she was attracted to the redhead. That had been very apparent since their first meeting at the activities fair.

No, Beca wanting to kiss Chloe wasn't the brunette's problem, the problem was that when the urge to kiss Chloe had risen, as it had on several occasions now Beca had been hesitant to follow through, not wanting to do something that would have potentially negative repercussions.

Beca did not usually think too much about kissing someone, if she wanted to kiss them she kissed them, provided they were willing of course. She had kissed all different types of girls, very rarely considering the implications of her actions, it was this that had landed her in trouble on many occasions and had also gone a long way to securing her reputation. But with Chloe there was a little voice, a voice that screamed warnings whenever Chloe got within a few feet her of her in intimate conversations, it had been there in the shower, at the Hood Night and most recently in the bar. She didn't know what had made her reach out and touch the redhead's cheek, her hand had moved pretty much of its own accord, comforting Chloe but at the same time intensifying then tension that had been present between the two of them since they had met. Beca was not usually one for initiating contact but it had felt a natural motion, a very unnatural notion for Beca, not helped the running commentary voice in her head.

The voice told her that there was something about the other girl, something that she couldn't identify, and as much as she wanted to kiss the redhead, the voice hissed that if she did it would ruin her chance of finding out why it was that Chloe seemed to have such a strange effect on her. Not that Beca would ever admit that out loud.

By stopping herself Beca was subconsciously admitting that in her own way she was coming to care for the other girl.

The idea terrified her.

Beca had avoided forming lasting attachments with anyone, except for Jesse, who had bugged her relentlessly until she'd just had to accept his presence in her life. Preferring to relegate people to a more formal acquaintance status. It was easier that way. But the bubbly redhead was dangerously close to breaking out of that group, Chloe had made it her mission to be more than an acquaintance and Beca didn't think she'd mind if the redhead succeeded.

Beca's mind was also aware of her own shortcomings, something she rarely liked to admit to. She knew that she was able to charm girls with a few choice words and the occasional disarming smile, and most of the time she didn't mean any of the words, the kisses or the touches that she bestowed upon her partners. Beca had a strong feeling that if she kissed Chloe the other girl would not protest, Chloe was straight as far as she knew but the flirtatious banter could be hiding another side to the singer. But there was an innocence that sparkled in Chloe's eyes whenever she looked at Beca, she would let Beca take the lead, trust her and it was this more than anything that terrified Beca. That innocence she was in Chloe, she could take it, destroy it and leave the redhead broken. She had seen it before in the eyes of dozens of girls.

They never expected her to break their hearts, but she always did.

Beca didn't know why Chloe was so different, but she didn't want to be the reason that the sparkle died from those ice blue eyes.

Leaning her forehead against the cold tile of the wall, her head aching from the conflict of emotions swirling round in her mind Beca groaned loudly.

"Fuck."

* * *

Aubrey had yet to wake up by the time Chloe got back to their shared flat and for that the redhead was grateful, she didn't feel like explaining why it was she had gone running at 4am in the pouring rain. After a quick shower Chloe went to her room and perched on the edge of her bed as she rubbed her hair absentmindedly with a towel. Dawn was just starting to break and the grey light was creeping into the room, Chloe made no move to switch on a light opting instead to sit in the gloom, her mind wandering back, as it had done so many times in the past 48 hours, to the alleyway next to the bar.

The last two days had passed in somewhat of a foggy haze for Chloe. Beca had disappeared as soon as she had seen Chloe back to Aubrey who as usual had taken charge. Chloe had never been more thankful to her best friend than she had in the hours and days since. Once making sure that Chloe was willing Aubrey had immediately insisted on calling the police, the glare she sent all present dared any of them to challenge her, predictably nobody was that stupid.

When the police had arrived a short time later Aubrey had helped gently coax the story out of Chloe, the redhead had stumbled over her words, the fear rising in her throat again as she remembered the feeling of Brad pressed against her, his hands holding her in place and his breath hot on her face.

She was about to tell the policeman about Beca coming to her rescue when suddenly one of Beca's band mates, Mark, who had been stood behind them jumped in and admitted to pulled Brad off Chloe and beating him up. Chloe had looked up at him with poorly disguised surprise, opening her mouth to correct him but the look in his eyes warned her to close her mouth before softening and pleading with her to go along with it. Thankfully the policeman was too busy taking notes to notice their non-verbal conversation, and seemed to believe Mark's accounts with no problems. It helped that the musician's knuckles were bruised and bloodied, when or how he had done that Chloe didn't know, and it was unlikely that Brad was going to admit that he'd been beaten by a girl who barely came up to his chin. Not that he was doing much talking anyway as he was loaded into the back of a police car, barely conscious and groaning softly.

Chloe had asked Mark why he'd just lied for Beca after the police had left, the older man had fixed her Chloe with a serious stare before replying cryptically that it was just something he he'd needed to do for Beca and it wasn't his place to say anymore. Chloe had tried to get more out of him but he'd deflected all of her questions before suggesting to Aubrey that she get Chloe home.

Aubrey hadn't left Chloe's side for the rest of the night and in an unprecedented move had cancelled training the following day for the Bella's, she had brushed aside all of Chloe's protests, insisting that she needed time to relax. The two best friends had spent the rest of their weekend on the sofa watching re-runs of old sitcoms and talking about anything but the events of the night before.

Practice had started again the next day and Chloe found that she was happy for the distraction, she'd had only two hours sleep the night before, despite Aubrey's insistence on being her 'snuggle buddy', and her body felt heavy with fatigue and sore from her encounter with Brad. In spite of this Chloe threw herself into the rehearsal with a determination that surprised even Aubrey, relishing the burn in her muscles, taking it as proof that she could still feel, that the numb feeling that had descended in the hours after the incident wasn't going to be forever.

Beca had also been on her mind for a lot of the weekend, Chloe still couldn't believe how the small brunette had just jumped to her defence, and how far she had gone to protect Chloe. The tenderness in her voice when they had been alone had shown a glimpse of a softer side to Beca, one that Chloe was keen to explore. She hadn't expected Beca to show up at practice, but that hadn't stopped the disappointment welling up in her stomach when she realised the brunette wasn't coming, she had been wanting to see her. Aubrey had started to puff up at Beca's absence, but had deflated quickly when Chloe had quietly explained the extent of Beca's injuries. The smaller girl had left so quickly at the bar that no one had gotten a good enough look at her face to see how hurt she was.

Chloe had been tempted to turn back that morning when the rain had started, but the cold drops on her face had spurred her on instead of forcing her back. She had been so focused on her feet, trying to block everything else out of her mind when she had collided with the smaller figure coming the other way, although she'd had to work hard to contain her smile when she saw a puffed up angry Beca Mitchell looking up at her, the rain water dripping down her slim frame in a way that caused Chloe's breath to catch in her throat a little.

The brunette was stunning and Chloe would have been lying if she said that she hadn't wondered what it would be like to kiss her, and when Beca's voice had dropped to a purr, very much like it did when she was singing she could easily see how girls could fall very easily for Beca Mitchell's charms.

It had seemed that Chloe might find out what kissing the small DJ would be like, until Beca had planted her hands on either side of Chloe's head as she'd moved in. In that instant the redhead was transported back to the alleyway, the terror rising in her chest at the thought of Brad pressing against her, his hands scrabbling at her waist. Chloe's body had reacted immediately curling away from Beca as the fear threatened to overtake her again. She had felt rather than seen Beca jump away from her, and when the haze of fear had passed and she was able to look up again she saw that the brunette was watching her worriedly, a garbled apology spewing from her lips. Chloe had waved her words away, knowing how little Beca enjoyed having to say sorry, sure enough an almost relieved look flashed in Beca's eyes before vanishing.

The sun had risen fully by the time Chloe pulled herself out of her thoughts, shivering slightly in her damp towel, she could hear Aubrey moving about in the kitchen and after glancing at the clock Chloe realised she needed to get ready, she was late for class.

Aubrey was chewing on some toast and flicking through a thick textbook when Chloe emerged from her room half an hour later.

"How was your run this morning?" Aubrey asked without looking up from her book. Chloe's hand faltered as she reached for the coffee pot.

"My run?"

"I'm assuming you went out running in the rain this morning and that's why your running shoes are still by the front door smelling damp?" Aubrey looked up with a smile as Chloe's eyes flicked towards the front door where the offending shoes still lay.

"Ok guilty." Chloe admitted with a sheepish grin. Aubrey shook her head fondly and stood up from the table.

"Make sure you're there early for the Mixer later," she said as she placed her dishes in the sink.

"I will be." Chloe said.

"And see if you can cover up your cheek a little." Aubrey's captain voice was back as she left the kitchen so she missed Chloe rolling her eyes.

"Wait till you see Beca." The redhead mumbled.

* * *

 _Well, it's not getting any better than this._

Beca looked at her reflection in the mirror grimly, tugging at the scarf she had just secured around her neck. Her injuries had not improved despite her best efforts to cover them up, if anything they were worse, the cuts on her cheek and above her eyebrow were a dark red and raw looking and the skin around them swollen, bruised and purple. It hurt to smile, not that Beca was doing much of that anyway, it hurt to sing and Beca had been sorely tempted to skive the performance but she was acutely aware that the pain she was in now would be nothing compared to what Aubrey would wreak on her if she didn't show up.

The uniform was more hideous in Beca's opinion, she looked like some jumped up flight attendant. She tried to avoid skirts and heels when she could, preferring to keep her feet flat on the floor and her knees unrestricted, there was also the lack of pockets which in Beca's book was unforgivable.

 _Damn you Pukey, Damn you Dad_. Beca thought bitterly as she adjusted on her skirt for what must have been the tenth time since she had put it on.

 _Here goes nothing._

The performance was about every bit as bad as Beca had expected it to be, the Bella's had only been practicing together for less than a week and by god did it show. It was out of synch, out of time and at times out of key, Beca didn't blame their audience for downing their drinks but she did think the people who stuck their fingers in their ears at points were exaggerating a bit.

Aubrey had started the performance stressed and in a bad mood, that had mostly been down to seeing Beca's face, the captain of the Bella's hadn't been able to make much more than a noise caught between a squeak and a growl when she had seen the state of Beca's injuries. She had swallowed violently several times, causing all the Bella's to take a hasty step backwards, they had all seen the video.

Only a stern look from Chloe had stopped Aubrey from giving Beca a piece of her mind, although for the first time since they had met Beca wasn't actually doing anything wrong. Instead the blonde had settled for muttering heavily under her breath, before plastering a bright smile on her face and heading over to the frat boys who were watching the Bella's with mixed emotions on their faces.

Luckily for everyone involved their set was mercifully short, Aubrey's hurried apologies to the frat boys, who had already had a fair amount to drink, despite the early hour, fell on deaf ears. One of the drunker guys couldn't help himself as the Bella's turned to walk away.

"Look at the state of them." He chortled into his beer. "Barden Bella's, more like Barden Brawler's. Who you been fighting girls?!" Chloe turned back to him.

"What's it to you?" she demanded. The guy chuckled and looked back at his friends.

"Whoa she's feisty. Is that how you got that?" he gestured to her cheek. "You get a little rough in bed?" he leered at her.

Aubrey started towards the frat boy as Chloe took a surprised step backwards, unable to form words. But Beca got there first, planting herself between Chloe and the boy she jabbed a finger into his chest, hard.

"Why you don't you back the fuck down?!" she hissed.

"Jesus!" the frat boy laughed again and peered down at her. "Look at the state of you, someone really didn't like you, though not hard to see why."

"Beca come on." Chloe pulled at the brunette's arm.

"Listen to your girlfriend." The frat boy sneered. "And leave before I fuck up what's left of your face Mitchell…disgusting dyke." the last bit was muttered out of hearing of the gathered crowd, it appeared this frat boy knew of Beca, and wasn't her biggest fan.

Beca reared up on the balls of her feet and shoved the boy hard in the chest, the movement surprised him and he slopped his beer down his front. He recovered quickly and stepped back up, eyeballing the brunette who was staring him down with all the fury she could muster, something in her eyes must have showed him she was serious because his expression became a bit unsure.

However, it was hard to appear intimidating, despite the bruises on her face, when wearing a uniform like the Bella's, it restricted her movement and made her look more than a little foolish. The frat boy's anger melted into laughter as he bobbed down, placing his hands on his knees.

"Look how flustered she's getting." He chortled, reaching up a hand to pinch her cheek, clearly wanting to humiliate her as much as possible without actually having to punch her, Beca's reputation had once again preceded her.

This was a mistake.

Later Beca would be the first to admit that perhaps head-butting the frat boy square in the nose was not the smartest idea she had ever had, the pain for one was excruciating, given the state of her face already she stumbled back a couple of steps and pain exploded across the bridge of her nose and cursing under her breath. The frat boy was in worse state, crumbled onto the floor hands cupped over his face as blood seeped from his nose.

Chloe had pulled Beca away, a smirk pulling at her lips at the pained sobs of the boy on the ground, the crowd that had gathered too surprised to do anything as Aubrey ushered the Bella's away, whilst trying to hide her own smile.

"If you're going to shout at me can you do it later?" Beca asked, still holding her face as the Bella's regrouped outside of the frat house. Aubrey took a deep breath before speaking.

"I'm not going to pretend to be happy about what you did Mitchell." She said sternly. "But you were protecting a fellow Bella, which was admirable, even if your methods were less than ladylike." she fixed Beca with a hard stare. "Just please try and make it through the next week without hitting anyone."

"I'll have to reschedule my boxing match for next week." Beca mumbled. Aubrey shot her a sharp look but chose to ignore the comment.

"I hope you all remember the way you feel right now, so you will never want to feel this way again." Aubrey turned her attention to the rest of the Bella's. "Chloe your voice didn't sound Aguilerian at all. For serious, what is wrong with you?!"

"I have nodes!"

The conversation that followed was one of the strangest that Beca had ever heard.

"They sit on your windpipe and they crush your dreams!"

"That seems a little bit over the top." Beca muttered, as Chloe looked like she might cry Beca felt a little guilty. "But isn't that painful? Why would you keep performing?"

"Because I love to sing." Chloe replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, her eyes shining with barely supressed emotion. Beca massaged her nose carefully as the other girl's spoke, it didn't feel broken thank god.

"…I am living with nodes but I am a survivor. I just have to pull back. Because I am limited. Because I have nodes." Beca rolled her eyes at Chloe's words, everything about this group was so melodramatic. Beca chose to ignore the

"Well at least it's not herpes, or do you have that as well?" Fat Amy's comment was the final straw for the DJ.

"Well on that disgusting note I'm going to go, what with you know…the bleeding."

"I'll expect to see you at practice tomorrow!" Aubrey yelled after the brunette as she slouched away very ungracefully in her heels.

Beca responded by flipping Aubrey off, the effect somewhat lessened as she almost tripped over a clump of grass.

* * *

Beca was already stripping off the ghastly uniform as she kicked her bedroom door shut behind her, the first thing to go was the scarf, ripped unceremoniously from her neck and flung onto her bed. The jacket followed before the small piece of material had time to hit the sheets. Wiggling the skirt down her legs and kicking it away from her along with her shoes left the brunette in just the white shirt and her underwear, and only now did she slow down. Releasing her hair from its tight bun she shook her head allowing it to cascade down her shoulders, crossing over her desk she peered into the mirror there, assessing the new damage to her face. There was a new small cut spanning the bridge of her nose, blood leaked from the gash dripping down onto her white shirt speckling it with little red drops. Sighing heavily Beca quickly unbuttoned the shirt and eased it off her shoulders, wincing as pain shot through her side, looking down she inspected the large bruise that had formed where Brad had punched her, the skin an ugly purple and blue.

Her fingers ghosted over the tender flesh, moving down her side and round towards her belly button, finally brushing over puckered scar tissue that spread from the top of her hip and up her stomach towards her rib cage.

Although the wound had healed many years ago Beca still grimaced as she laid her hand flat over the scar, it served as a reminder, every second of every day it was there reminding her of what had happened, of how close she had come to giving up.

 _Just one of many_. The brunette thought grimly as she pulled her hand quickly away from the scar she couldn't bear touching it for too long, and with the memory of her nightmare fresh in her mind again she shook her head sharply.

She had spent too long in the past today already.

* * *

Benjamin Mitchell was walking slowly across the quad, thoughts lingering on the lecture he had just given.

"Did you hear that Beca Mitchell head-butted one of the frat boys?!" his step faltered at the sound of his daughter's name and twisted his head to better eavesdrop of the excited girl who was regaling her friends with the story. "Apparently she broke his nose after he made fun of her." Benjamin could feel his eyes widening in shock at her words.

"No way!" he was inclined to agree with the disbelieving reply, but a small part of his brain reasoned that it sounded like a very 'Beca' thing to do. Hearing all he needed to Benjamin turned on his heel and began marching in the direction of the student accommodation, his mouth set in a grim line.

He was going to have words with his daughter.

"Jesse!" the young man turned as Dr Mitchell rang out from behind him.

"Dr Mitchell." He greeted the professor with a slightly nervous wave, despite meeting the main a few times the previous year Jesse still didn't know how to act around Beca's father.

"I was just on my way to see Beca." Jesse said needlessly as the older man opened the door to Beca's dorm room.

"As am I." the professor replied, his expression growing grim again. "I overheard a storey on the that quad that my daughter has gotten herself into another altercation."

"Oh yeah, that's what I was going to see her about." Jesse replied as the two of them ascended the stairs. "I just hope that this one hasn't made her face any worse from the other fight." He knew the words were a mistake the second the left his mouth.

For the second time in as many minutes Benjamin's step faltered as she turned to look at the younger man who was looking as if he'd just shot himself in the foot.

"What do you mean _other_ fight?" he asked quietly. Jesse's face blanched further and he looked as if he might run away.

"Well…what I mean is…you said 'another'…so I just assumed…you know that you…" he stammered, trailing off when he saw Benjamin raise an eyebrow, an exact imitation of the look he had received hundreds of times from Beca, it was a look that told him to shut up. "Beca was in a fight at a bar on Saturday night." He mumbled finally, wilting under the unwavering stare Beca's father was sending his way.

"Damn!" Dr Mitchell allowed an uncharacteristic expletive to slip from his mouth and began working with renewed purpose up the stairs. For a moment Jesse lingered in the stairwell, unsure as to whether or not he should follow, but after a moment of indecision he scampered after the older man.

Beca was not going to be happy.

The brunette in question was hunched over her computer, deeply engrossed in a mix when there was a sharp knocking at her door, loud enough that she could hear it over the bassline thumping in her ears. Turning in her seat she frowned as the knocking sounded again louder this time. Beca didn't get many visitors, Jesse really being the only one and he never knocked. As the knocking echoed round the room for the third time Beca sighed exasperatedly, slipping her headphones off and marching the three steps across the room to wrench the door open.

"Oh my god!" Dr Mitchell's eyes widened as he took in the sight of his daughter's battered face.

"What do you want?" Beca demanded.

"I came because I overheard a rumour that apparently you broke some frat boys nose with your face." her father replied. "And then I ran into your friend Jesse, and he informed me that this isn't the first fight you've been in this week." Beca scowled at her best friend as he poked his head out to wave meekly at her. Without waiting for his daughter to reply Benjamin pushed his way into the room, Jesse following somewhat nervously and shooting Beca an apologetic smile.

"Well what do you have to say for yourself?" Beca remained silent, sinking into a chair she folded her arms across her chest and matching his stony stare with one of her own. Benjamin glanced over at Jesse, hoping that his daughter's friend could enlighten him to the situation but Jesse just shrugged, although the professor made him nervous his loyalty was Beca ran deeper.

"Ok Beca, this kind of response was understandable when you were five years old but now, you're twenty-two, you need to start growing up." Dr Mitchell threw his hands up in the hair, exasperated at his daughter's silence. On his last sentence Beca stood up, her dark blue eyes flashing.

"I had to grow up when you left us." Her voice was low. "When you decided that we weren't good enough." Her father shifted uncomfortably on his feet. "And my silence is not a childish prank to piss you off, it's because I have nothing to say to you."

"That is not the issue here!" her father thundered, losing his temper for the first time. "Dammit Beca you will not shut me out on this! Now why were you fighting?! This is what got you into trouble when…"

"I stopped my friend from being raped." Beca yelled interrupting her father who looked shocked at her words. Balling her fists up Beca scowled heavily at him. "Some creep was forcing himself on her so I pulled him off."

Benjamin didn't seem to know what to say, his mouth opened and closed a few times. "Well…" Was all he could manage.

"That's what I thought." Beca huffed dropping back into her seat. "Now if you're done pretending to be the concerned father I'm kind of tired and sore. "

"Don't think you're getting off that easily, what happened today?"

"That arsehole was asking for it!" Beca snarled.

"What if he decided to press charges?!" Benjamin demanded.

"I have a feeling he's not going to be in a hurry to admit that he was floored by a girl." Beca smirked casting a look at Jesse who gave a nervous smile in response.

"That's not the point! You can't just go around head-butting people because they rub you the wrong way!" Benjamin rubbed his temples fiercely, he had the beginnings of a major headache coming on. Beca had lapsed back into silence, eyeing her father contemptuously.

Benjamin cast another despairing look to Jesse, not sure how to proceed. "Beca." He said finally, as levelly as he could. "Maybe…this violent behaviour is a cry for help, a sign that you're still not dealing with…" he was interrupted by Beca leaping up from her chair for a second time, her bruised face twisted in rage.

"I've told you before that we are _not_ talking about it. Her right hand unconsciously flitted to her side and a pained look flashed her side before she raised her hand to point an index finger at her father. There's no cry for help, I dealt with it."

"Oh have you?!" her father snapped. "So the drinking, the women, the stony childish silences and acting out with everyone you meet who might have a chance of helping you is you dealing with it?" he took a step forward, anger flashing in his eyes. "You are not a teenager anymore Beca, you can't keep burying your head in the sand, at some point you're going to have to admit it out loud…that you're not over it."

"I don't have to admit anything to you." Beca growled. "I just want to forget about it."

"Life doesn't work like that." Benjamin said heavily. "You can't just run away from the past and forget about it."

"You did."

Beca's reply was lightening quick and icy cold. "You've been running and trying to forget ever since you decided me and mum weren't good enough and you walked out the door with _that_ woman! You couldn't wait to get us out of your life."

"That's not how it was, I know I messed up but I'm here not, trying to make it right, trying to help you!"

"Only because I almost died!" Beca screamed, a stunned silence falling over the room at her words. Benjamin's face blanched. "If you hadn't have gotten that phone call you'd have never looked back. Even when it was all building up, when all the shit went down you didn't care!"

"Now Beca that's not fair! I didn't know the full extent of the situation." Benjamin protested.

"Because you didn't bother to find out, it took _that_ night to bring you skulking back." She was still shouting, unable to keep the emotion from making her voice tremble, angry tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

Jesse stepped up at that moment, placing a comforting hand on his best friend's shoulder. Beca started at the contact, it appeared she had forgotten he was there.

"It wasn't like that." Benjamin defended. "Your mother never…"

"Don't you dare try and pin this on her!" Beca hissed venomously. Even Jesse took a step back at the tone of her voice. "She did more for me than you ever will." Her father bowed his head, a pained expression on his face.

"Beca I'm…"

"I think you should go, I'm tired." Beca looked pointedly at the door, Benjamin looked like he might protest but the look in Beca's eyes stopped it, he had seen it enough over the years to know that anything he had to say from now on would fall on deaf ears. With a heavy sigh he crossed the room and pulled the door open, pausing in the doorway to shoot one last mournful glance over his shoulder.

"One day you'll let me in." he murmured before walking out the door pulling it closed behind him.

Beca sank down into her chair growling low in her throat.

"I'm sorry." Jesse spoke tentatively after a moments silence. "I didn't mean to get you in trouble."

"It's ok." Beca sighed. "He was bound to find out sooner or later, I just wish we didn't have to keep having the same argument." Rubbing her temple, the brunette smiled tightly at her friend. "So I won't deck you this time." Jesse chuckled and crossing over to his friend pulled her to her feet so he could pull her into a hug. Usually Beca would have pushed him away, but the recent exchange with her father had left her emotionally drained so she sank into his embrace.

"You can deck me if it'll make you feel better." She felt his voice vibrate in her chest and couldn't help but laugh with him.

"Thank you." She murmured. Jesse squeezed her a little tighter, being mindful of her bruised face.

"Anytime."

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed that and please let me know what you thought by leaving a review, they make me write quicker! Next time it's the Riff-off and the Trebles have a party! Until next time!**

 **Pirate-x-Girls**


	5. Chapter 5

**Managed to get this finished sooner than I anticipated so didn't want to keep you guys waiting. Thanks to everyone who has followed, favorited and reviewed the last chapter. I must apologise as well for the amount of typos and mistakes in the last chapter, this is due to most of it being written on my tablet on a train to and from Scotland so lots of things slipped through. When I have time I will try and go back and change it. Without further ado please enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

 **You Call Me A Bitch Like It's A Bad Thing**

 **Chapter 5**

Beca's bruises had slowly faded in the three weeks after her fight with her father, until all that was left was a pinkish scar stretching above her left eyebrow, but her anger at her father had remained. Thankfully he had made no attempt to get in contact with her, rightfully sensing that at this stage there was nothing he could say that was going to make Beca want to talk to him. Jesse had tried to talk to her about it in the days that followed, but had been met with a stony silence every time he broached the subject. In the end he had given up, Beca had always been stubborn, especially when it came to her father.

Jesse stepped into the darkness of the radio station, hand clutching a bag of takeaway. The only light in the room came from the small booth and as Jesse made his way through the shelves he could make out the small form of Beca hunched over the console, her brow furrowed in concentration.

"Hello!" Jesse called out, Beca didn't move as he approached the booth, it wasn't until he knocked loudly on the doorframe that she jumped upright in her chair and spun round, her eyes widening in surprise.

"What the hell dude?!" she breathed, right hand clasping at her chest. "You trying to give me a heart attack!"

"I did say hello." Jesse chuckled as he settled into the chair next to her, placing the bag of food on the table. "You were too deep in DJ mood to hear me." He scrunched up his face, mimicking her concentration look. Beca rolled her eyes and shoved him with her foot.

"What are you doing here?"

"I thought you could do with some fatty goodness." Jesse gestured to the bag, which Beca ripped open immediately smiling as she pulled out a burger.

"You're forgiven for trying to kill me then." She spoke around a mouthful of burger.

"If I wanted to kill you, you wouldn't even know I was coming. I've seen enough Kung Fu movies to be able to kill you in hundreds of different ways." Raising his arms, he waved them around in chopping motions.

"My god could you be any _less_ cool." Beca complained as Jesse kicked his leg in the air almost knocking the burger out of her hand.

"Hay yah!" was Jesse's response, pretending to karate chop Beca in the face. The noise quickly turned into a yelp of pain when Beca grabbed his hand, twisting it painfully. "Ah! Ah! Ah!" he squealed until the brunette released his hand, immediately cradling it to his chest. "Too mean Mitchell."

"There's no such thing." Beca replied, burger already gone and her attention focused back on the console. Selecting the next few tracks she lined them up and pressed play before removing her headphones and placing them on the desk. Jesse was tossing chips in the air trying to catch them in his mouth, unsuccessfully.

"Can you stop getting salty chips all over my equipment?!" Beca snapped finally, Jesse looked up guiltily wiping a couple of the chips off the top of the console. "So whilst I'm very grateful that you brought me food, why are you out at…" she looked at her watch, "…past midnight?"

"Trebles practice." Jesse yawned. "Bumper has us practicing every day for like three hours in preparation for regionals."

"Pukey has us doing the same." Beca muttered darkly. "She's obsessed with everything being perfect."

"What are you guys doing?"

"Oh no!" Beca shook her head. "If Aubrey gets even the slightest wiff that I'd mentioned anything about our performance to anyone, _especially_ a Treblemaker she would remove my head from my shoulders." Beca drew her finger across her throat to emphasis her point.

"It was worth a try." Jesse chuckled. "Are you looking forward to Regionals?"

"It's still like 2 and a half months away!" Beca replied, her eyes flicking back to the screen to check the progress of the songs. "And given how our last and only performance went…" Beca trailed off her hand coming up to unconsciously rub the almost faded mark on her nose.

"People are still talking about that!" Jesse laughed.

"Great. That's just what I need, more reasons for people to talk about me."

"You did choose to smack that guy in the nose with your face." Jesse pointed out, ignoring the scowl sent his way. "You could have walked away, he was drunk and being an idiot."

"Well he was being a dick to…" Beca stopped herself before the words could leave her mouth. She had just come dangerously close to admitting that the reason she had hurt the frat boy was because of his comments to Chloe. Jesse shot her a questioning look as she tried to cover her slip with a cough.

"Being a dick to who?"

"It doesn't matter." Beca said quickly. "He was being a dick, I saw red and head butting him seemed like the best thing to do at the time."

"You never were one for forward planning." A mournful look passed over Beca's face at his words and he bit his lip immediately. "Sorry that was insensitive." Beca shook her head, brushing aside his apologies.

"Don't worry about it." she was saved from having to say anymore by her song list coming to an end, Jesse sat quietly as she loaded up the next playlist concentrating fully on the screen until she could get her emotions under control.

"So I take it you're excited for Regionals then?" She asked, desperate to move the conversation away to anything else once the next set of songs were playing. Jesse nodded eagerly, an easy smile gracing his face.

"Yeah I think it's gonna be so much fun!" he gushed. "I've been trying to convince Bumper that we should do a movie song at some point but I don't think he's biting."

"Understandable." Beca replied nodding her head seriously. "Movie songs suck."

"They do not!" Jesse sat bolt upright in his chair, face a picture of outrage. "Some of the best songs ever made have been movie songs."

"That's a load of bullshit." Beca laughed. "Name one."

"Bryan Adams, Everything I Do." Jesse shot back immediately. Beca rolled her eyes.

"That's what you're going with? Bryan Adams?!"

"The song is a classic!" Jesse slammed his hand into the desk on the last word. " _Everyone_ knows that song!"

"That doesn't mean it's any good." Beca snorted.

"15 million copies sold means it does." Jesse's tone was stubborn and Beca resisted the urge to roll her eyes again.

"Any others?" she teased.

"Don't You Forget About Me." Beca groaned as a slightly dreamy look entered her friend's eyes, there was not a week that went by without Jesse humming, singing or mentioning the song in some form or another. "Best song ever." Jesse continued with a grin.

"Get out of my booth." Beca pointed to the door as Jesse began to sing, wiggling his head along to the words.

 _Tell me your troubles and doubts, giving me everything inside and out_

Jesse made for the door, ducking out of the way of the balled up foil that Beca chucked at him.

 _Love's strange so real in the dark, think of the tender things we were working on_

"Go away!" Beca heard Jesse laugh as he disappeared from sight, leaving her alone in the booth again.

* * *

"ALRIGHT BELLA'S FORM UP!"

Aubrey's voice echoed around the room, all the Bella's scrambling to stand in front of the captain who stood with her hands on her hips mouth set in a determined line and Chloe at her side. It was the beginning of the first practice of the week and most of the Bella's had spent the weekend partying.

Beca especially was in a bad way, she had been out until the early hours of the morning and she'd had very little sleep. Her head was spinning and her stomach churned violently whenever she moved, she loitered at the back of the crowd of Bella's, praying that Aubrey didn't pay any attention to her.

"We have been slacking girls. Regionals is right around the corner and we are nowhere near ready." Aubrey said sternly, slapping her hand once again against the whiteboard that Beca had come to hate with a burning passion. "So from now on we are going to be working twice as hard!" Beca groaned at the blonde's words.

Unfortunately for her it came out louder than she had anticipated, Aubrey's eyes snapped to the back of group, narrowing when she took in the state of the brunette. Her eyes were bloodshot, her posture stooped and she carried herself gingerly as if movement was difficult.

"I'm sorry Beca, are we keeping you from something more important than practice?" the blonde asked sweetly.

"Sleep." Beca muttered, Aubrey's expression darkened and raising a shaking hand pointed to the stairs, her intention very clear. Beca thought about arguing but decided with the pain building up behind her temples that it wasn't worth it, so with a loud huff she slouched off towards the stairs, not failing to miss Chloe shaking her head and rubbing her temples, as if she too had a headache forming.

Aubrey wasn't kidding when she said they were going to work twice as hard, and apparently it would seem for twice as long. The two-hour mark came and went with no sign of practice coming to an end, the slightly manic look in the captain's eyes had been enough to stop anyone from questioning this decision. Beca would have protested, but after being made to run for the first forty-five minutes she was pretty sure that if she opened her mouth to do anything other than breath she was going to throw up.

"Bree maybe we should let them stop for some water?" Chloe suggested after watching Fat Amy collapse forward onto her stomach croaking for a drink. Aubrey looked round at the girl's, all of whom were in various stages of exhaustion and begrudgingly nodded. Beca moaned with relief and sank down onto the bottom of the steps, head cradled in her hands. When she next looked up a bottle of water was being dangled in front of her face, she took it and gave a tight smile of thanks to Chloe who was standing in front of her.

"Feeling rough?" the redhead asked with a smirk as Beca took several large gulps of water.

"You could say that." The DJ groaned. "I feel like there's an elephant stood on my head."

"That'll teach you to go out the night before practice." Chloe sat down next to her, leaning back on her elbows she regarded the smaller girl with a grin.

"Every night is the night before practice." Beca replied taking another large sip of water.

"Then you should learn to handle your alcohol better." Chloe teased, plucking the bottle from Beca's hands she brought it to her lips, allowing the cold liquid to quench her parched throat. She could feel Beca scowling at her.

"Could you be any smugger right now?"

"I could be." Chloe shrugged. "But I thought I'd go easy on you, seeing as you're feeling so fragile." She reached up to pinch Beca's, giggling as the brunette jerked her head away sharply.

"The last person to try and do that got a broken nose." Beca warned. "And don't think I won't do it just because you're pretty."

"You think I'm pretty!" Chloe beamed, pinching Beca's cheek again. "Awww Beca you're so sweet thank you!" standing up she walked away, shooting the dumbstruck Beca a smirk over her shoulder as she did so.

"I'm too hungover for this shit." Beca mumbled to herself.

The Bella's were offered a five-minute respite before Aubrey had them back on their feet, running through the set. Beca reluctantly dragged herself to her feet, taking her place at the back of the group as they started to sing. The urge to vomit grew stronger and stronger with every word she sang, rising in the back of her throat painfully. To combat the sickness, she lowered her voice until she was essentially just mouthing the words, her arms moving limply along to the choreography.

This was not unnoticed by Aubrey who called a halt to the song, fixing her steely eyes on Beca once more. "Is there a reason you're not singing with us?" she asked tersely. Beca took a deep breath, feeling her stomach roll again at the motion, she was going to be sick. "Beca!"

Holding up her hand Beca motioned for Aubrey to stop speaking. "Just hold that thought for one moment" she mumbled, before turning on her heel and bolting from the room.

She made it outside and round the side of the building before her stomach heaved violently again and she brought back up the contents of her stomach against the wall. She leant her hands against the wall she retched again, wincing as the bile burnt her throat on its way up.

Finally, there was nothing left to bring back up and Beca moved to the left, collapsing against the wall breathing heavily.

"Feeling better?" Supressing a sigh Beca opened her eyes, locking with Chloe's blue ones.

"Much." Beca breathed wiping the perspiration off her forehead.

"Aubrey's not happy."

"She's never happy with me." Beca snorted.

"That's because you deliberately get under her skin, if you worked with her once in a while…"

"We've had this conversation before." Beca interrupted. Chloe raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm surprised you remember, because you don't seem to have made any effort to be nicer." She replied, her voice a little colder than usual.

"I am trying Red," Beca chuckled. "But she doesn't make it easy."

"That's because this is everything to her." Chloe sighed. "Last year's ICCA performance was really tough on her, this is her last chance and she doesn't want anything to mess it up."

"Yeah puking all over the audience is hard to come back from." At Chloe's frown Beca held up her hands in a mock surrender. "Ok, ok, I get it, maybe sometimes I can be a bit harsh."

"A bit?!" Chloe scoffed, although a small smile pulled at her lips. "Beca you torment her."

"I torment everyone." The brunette replied, swallowing hard as the residual bile threatened to make an appearance once more, taking another deep breath she forced it back down.

"You don't torment me." Chloe said, taking a tentative step back, wary of sudden projectile vomiting.

"Give it time." Beca winked, thankful that the feeling had passed. "You'll be sick to death of me soon enough." The words were said as a joke, but there was a serious look in the brunette's eyes as she met Chloe's gaze, the look seemed almost like a warning. "Ok fine, I will make more of an effort to be nice to Pukey."

Before Chloe could say anything else Aubrey stomped round the corner. "Up and at em you two! This isn't supposed to be a break, neither of you have worked hard enough for that! Now get back in there!" Beca pushed herself off the wall and began to walk towards the captain. As Beca drew level with her Aubrey tossed a pack of chewing gum at the brunette. "Use this." She snapped.

Beca popped a piece of gum into her mouth, shooting Chloe a pointed look as she did so, the redhead couldn't help but smirk at the exasperated expression on the smaller girl's face. She hid her smirk behind her hand as Aubrey's attention turned to her after Beca had disappeared back into the building.

"Perfection Chlo," the blonde said seriously. "I need perfection."

* * *

Practice finally came to an end and not a moment too soon. As Aubrey blew her whistle there was a collective groan of relief and many of the girl's dropped where they stood. The only ones left standing were Aubrey and Chloe, who barely looked out of breath.

"Ohhh, that's gonna hurt tomorrow." Fat Amy groaned, massaging her lower back.

"Well done today girls." Aubrey said in a rare moment of praise. "Most of you have worked really hard." Her eyes flickered to Beca, showing what she thought of the brunette's effort in practice. "I will see you at the same time again tomorrow."

"I'm starving!" Stacie grumbled as the Bella's gathered their things. "Anyone wanna grab some food?"

"Yes!" Fat Amy struggled to her feet, a couple of the other girl's voiced their agreement. "Fancy joining us Beca?"

Beca looked up in surprise at Fat Amy's question, she never usually stuck around long enough at the end of practice to make conversation, and this was the first invitation of this kind she had gotten. "Err…" she thought for a moment, she had been planning on heading back to her room and lying face down on her bed until her hangover subsided, but something about the eager look Fat Amy's face had her reconsidering. "…yeah sure why not."

"Aubrey, Chloe are you coming?"

"I wish I could but I have class." Beca was surprised to feel a small flash of disappointment at the redhead's words.

"I have a meeting." Aubrey said, Beca felt only relief at her words.

"Have fun girls!" Chloe called after the retreating Bella's, flashing Beca a grin when she looked back.

They found a small diner for lunch and all piled into a booth, Beca finding herself squashed between Amy and Stacie, Cynthia Rose and Lily on the seemingly very spacious other side of the booth.

"So Beca I listen to your show." Stacie said after a moment.

"Oh you do?"

"Yeah, your stuff is pretty good."

"Thank you." Beca didn't really know how to react to the conversation so nodded her head slightly nervously, aware that all the eyes on the table were on her.

"Your welcome, you're pretty sick in that band too." The tall brunette replied with a wink.

"Yeah, and pretty scrappy too!" Fat Amy chimed in at that point, a wide grin on her face. "That guy looked like he'd been crocodile wrestling when you were finished with him."

"Yeah…" Beca rubbed the back of her neck, a nervous habit she had. "…well I mean he gave as good as he got."

"You're like Chloe's knight in shining armour!" Fat Amy continued. "And to be honest the sexual tension between you two is electric."

"What?!" Beca yelped loudly, surprising the waitress who had appeared at their table to take their order causing her to drop her notepad. To avoid their conversation continuing Beca quickly urged the girl to order their food, although the waitress looked very confused when she came to take Lily's order, mostly because it seemed like the girl had asked if they had any shark soup. As soon as the waitress had left Fat Amy turned back to Beca.

"You and Red, what's happening there?" Amy pressed.

"Nothing." Beca responded immediately. "There's nothing happening."

"Oh come on!" Stacie said. "You guys pretty much eye fuck each other practice! She's the only Bella you really interact with at all."

"That's not really…"

"That is true." Cynthia Rose chimed in. "And she was really worried when you didn't show up to practice a few weeks back after the fight."

"She'd be worried about any of you guys if you'd had your faces smashed in." Beca replied dryly.

"I participate in an underground fight club." Every head turned to the muttered admission from the end of the booth. Lily made no indication that she had spoken, preferring to continue balance her knife on the tip of her index finger.

"Right…" Cynthia Rose said, looking a little scared. "Anyone wanna switch?" she whispered looking a little concerned casting a furtive look at Lily. Beca and Stacie shook their heads fiercely whilst Amy looked intrigued.

"Have you really slept with 100 women?" Stacie as usual was quick to move the conversation along and Beca was once again left gaping like a fish at her words in a very uncharacteristic manner.

"What makes you say that?" she finally managed to say.

"I heard it."

"From where?"

"From a friend of a friend on my course whose friend is roommates with someone you slept with." It took Beca's brain a moment to comprehend all of the links.

"Oh I did?" she murmured weakly.

"Yep," Stacie said, brow furrowed in thought. "Her name was Carmen." All of the Bella's looked to Beca expectantly as the brunette wracked her brains trying to work out if the name rang a bell.

It didn't.

"Ohhh yeah, Carmen." Her voice was hesitant, unconvincing.

"You have no idea who she is." Stacie grinned. "I guess it's hard to remember that many names."

"I really don't think it's that many." Beca protested, "Now can we please talk about something else?"

"We're just trying to get to know you Beca." Fat Amy said. "I mean you're like the most mysterious Bella, apart from me, you're like…" she paused to think, "…the Bermuda Triangle or whatever. Nobody knows what to think about you, but you're difficult to approach you know, I'm surprised you came today."

Beca was saved from replying to that by the arrival of their food, and it couldn't have come at a better time, because Beca had nothing to say to the Australians comments, and that did not sit well with the brunette, because Beca always had something to say, it was one of the many things that got her into trouble, always ready to have a witty or sarcastic comment to shoot back.

But she was finding herself lost for words more and more in the past couple of months with the Bella's, and Beca wasn't sure that she liked it. Not one bit.

By the end of lunch Beca found herself enjoying the company of the other Bella's, despite their insistence on wanting sordid details about her private life, Fat Amy entertained them all with outlandish tales from her time back home in Australia, many of which had them in stitches. There was a particular one about a misunderstanding with a sting ray that had Beca snorting into her food so strongly that she nearly choked.

Stacie and Cynthia Rose were pleasant enough company Beca decided, even if Stacie's comments did border on the outlandish and downright inappropriate most of the time, Beca found herself liking it though.

Lily was just plain odd, after the one comment at the beginning of the meal she had lapsed into silence but had kept up a very unnerving eye contact with Beca as she ate her meal.

Beca's hangover had reduced over the course of the meal, but as they stepped out of the diner and into the open air, the sunlight had her headache flaring up again. Placing her sunglasses on her nose only slightly lessened the pain and the small brunette resolved to get back into her bed as soon as possible.

"So this was fun." She said as the girl's went their separate ways. "We should, err, do it again sometime."

"Don't sound so dubious Shortstack." Amy chuckled, thumping Beca hard on the shoulder. "We'll see you at practice tomorrow." Beca nodded and waved her goodbyes to the other girl before heading back to her dorm as quickly as she could, in her head she was already in her warm bed.

* * *

"It's movie time!" Beca's eyes snapped open at the sound of Jesse's voice, her best friend was crouched on the end of her bed, his laptop in one hand, a movie in the other and a bright smile on his face.

"What the fuck?" Beca mumbled, letting her eyes close again.

"You promised me a movie today! Did you forget?!" Jesse pouted. Beca groggily cast her mind back, the memories hazy, until with a groan she remembered a drunken chat with Jesse the night before when she had promised him that she would watch a movie with him if he left her with the girl she had been flirting with, his presence had been somewhat of a buzzkill.

"I was drunk!" she moaned, turning and burying her head in her pillow. "It doesn't count!"

"It totally counts." Jesse insisted.

"Can you not see that I'm super hungover!" Beca complained. "I've had Bella's practice for hours and then was dragged to lunch, I've done my socialising for today." She left out the part where she had

gone to lunch willingly. "I've been sick and my head is pounding, I just want to curl up in my bed alone and go to sleep."

"Nope." Patting her legs until she moved Jesse settled onto the bed next to her, already opening his laptop and powering it up. "One movie, and then I'll be out of your hair."

"I wish." Beca pushed herself up onto her arms, blinking rapidly to try and wake herself up. A look at the clock told her that she'd been napping for less than half an hour, the thought made me groan internally.

"You are going to LOVE this movie!" Jesse was babbling excitedly, Beca grunted in response.

"What is it?"

" _Some Like It Hot_." Jesse proclaimed loudly as the title screen popped up. Beca bit back a groan when she saw that it was in black and white, she hated black and white movies the most. "Released in 1959, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Tony Curtis, John Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe with music by Adolph Deutsche." Jesse always began their movie sessions by sprouting important information about the movie, reciting it as if from a textbook. "Considered to be one of the best comedies in history, with a _phenomenal_ ending." Endings were Jesse's favourite part of movies, and Beca's for that matter, albeit for very different reasons. "The music is…"

"Jesse!" Beca interrupted rubbing her temples. "Just…start the damn movie please." She begged. Jesse shrugged, unoffended by her exasperated tone, leaning forward he hit play, his eyes lighting up as he shifted back on the bed.

The movie was to Beca's great surprise one of the best that Jesse had shown her. It was still predictable in and at points clichéd but Beca had found herself grinning, even laughing out loud at many points during the movie. As the screen faded to black Beca looked up to find Jesse watching her, a gleeful expression on his face.

"You _did_ love it!" he crowed. Beca shrugged, not willing to admit that easily, he would be relentless if she did.

"It was marginally better than some of the other tripe you've made me watch." She conceded. "And yes the ending was pretty good."

"Yes!" Jesse pumped his fist in the air. "Now all I need to do is get you to watch _Star Wars_ and _Lord of the Rings_ and I can die a happy man!"

"That's not going to be happening anytime soon." Beca mumbled, shuffling off her bed and over to her desk, grabbing some painkiller she tossed them into her mouth, washing them down with some water. Jesse just chuckled, closing his laptop.

"So you the Bella's ready for the riff off?" He asked nonchalantly, Beca's hand froze half way to her mouth.

"What's a riff-off?"

* * *

"The riff-off is just a bit of fun!" Chloe beamed at Beca as the Bella's made their way into the empty swimming pool. "A chance for us to bond with some of the other groups. And there's always a party afterwards!"

"I thought we were supposed to be avoiding the other teams." Beca grumbled stuffing her hands into the pockets of her jacket.

"What Chloe means is that there's nothing wrong with a little bit of healthy competition, and this will help us stay sharp and on our toes." Aubrey said over her shoulder, she was tense despite the fact that the competition was supposed to be 'a bit of fun' but Aubrey was more competitive than any of them.

"I prefer to be flat-footed." Beca mumbled petulantly. Aubrey chose to ignore the brunette's comment as they all gathered in the middle of the swimming pool, the three other a cappella groups with them. People sat on the sides of the pool, their legs dangling and red cups in their hands, as Beca looked round all the people watching expectantly she started to feel a little nervous. Chloe had explained the rules before they went in and it seemed pretty simple, match the word to a song related to a specific category. That was all well and good, but at that moment Beca was having trouble remembering the name of _any_ song, let alone the lyrics.

Beca wasn't listening to anything the large boy Justin was saying, and was jerked back sharply to the present by the Trebles surging forward, stamping loudly on the floor and slapping their thighs as they launched into a rendition of _Mickey_. From there the riff-off built momentum with the BU Harmonics taking over, Beca found her understanding of the concept building as the first round drew to a close with the High Notes being 'cut off'.

The atmosphere was contagious and Beca found herself getting swept up in the excitement, more so than she would have anticipated. She had yet to jump in with her own song, but as Jesse did his solo pulling his jacket off his body and shooting her what he assumed were seductive looks an idea began to form in her mind. Finally, she knew she had to act now or her new found confidence would disappear, as quickly as she could she ran forward being careful to time it just right, planting herself in front of Jesse the words tumbling from her mouth before she could stop them.

 _It's going down, fade to Blackstreet_

 _The homies got RB, collab' creations_

 _Bump like Acne, no doubt_

 _I put it down, never slouch_

 _As long as my credit can vouch_

 _A dog couldn't catch me straight out_

Her voice echoed around the silent pool, and she knew that every eye was on her, most people not even bothering to hide their confusion. Beca ploughed on, hoping that _someone_ would jump in and help her.

 _Tell me who can stop when Dre making moves_

 _Attracting honeys like a magnet_

 _Giving 'em eargasms with my mellow accent_

 _Still moving this flavour_

 _With the homies Blackstreet and Teddy_

 _The original rump shakers_

Beca could feel her voice faltering as the silence reigned, her eyes landing on the Bella's who were all watching her intently. Aubrey looked as if she didn't know how to arrange her features and it made her look a little simple. Chloe's brow was furrowed in confusion but a half smile was playing on her lips, her lower one caught between her teeth, Beca raised her eyebrows as her voice failed altogether, pleading with someone to jump in before making one last attempt to jog their memories.

 _Shorty get down, good Lord_

 _Baby got 'em open all over town_

Beca could have cried with relief as Fat Amy's voice joined her for the next lines the Australian strutting forward to come and stand next to her

 _Strictly biz, she don't play around_

 _Cover much ground got game by the pound_

 _Getting paid is a forte_

 _Each and every day, true player_

 _I can't get her out of my mind_

 _I think about the girl all the time_

Finally, the other Bella's joined in the harmonising, providing the back up to the song and Beca couldn't help the wide grin that split her face as they all moved forward as one, coming to a stop beside her.

 _I like the way you work it, no diggity, I gotta bag it up, baby_

Beca couldn't believe it when the people sat round the swimming pool took up the chant as they sang, all of their voices rising up into the night air in perfect harmony her smile grew even bigger as the Trebles looked on, slack jawed, except Jesse who readily joined in, his boyish face lighting up with glee and giving Beca a thumbs up. Beca took her place back between the middle of the group of Bella's and pushing her hair behind her ear and spreading her hands out prepared for the finale.

 _We out_

Leaning back slightly Beca put on her best gangster face as the crowd round the swimming pool roared their approval. She felt a pair of hands land on her shoulders squeezing softly and without looking she knew that it was Chloe. She couldn't remember the last time she had smiled for so long and with a start realised just _how_ much she was enjoying herself.

Her joy was short lived however when the judge, a large boy called Justin stepped forward, steepling his fingers and regarding them all with a smirk. "It's a tough blow ladies. The word you needed to match was 'it'. And you sang 'it's'. You are...cut off!"

"Are you serious? That's bullshit!" Beca snorted as the Trebles began whopping and shouting in glee and the Bella's all groaned in protest, mirrored by the crowd who all voiced their disapproval…loudly.

"Them's the rules!" Justin's smirk had grown wider as he shrugged, obviously enjoying his position as judge, jury and executioner to the Bella's. Aubrey was urging the Bella's away, her mouth set in a tight line, but Beca remained, bristling with annoyance,

"Just because you're tone deaf doesn't mean you have to take it out on people who can _actually_ sing!" Beca shouted, even as Chloe began pulling her away. Her words caused laughter to ripple through the crowd of onlookers and Justin's smug look faded slightly.

"Come _on_ Beca!" Chloe intensified her efforts to pull the brunette away, surprised at how strong the small girl was. The DJ was still shouting insults at the judge as the Bella's left the swimming pool, they were out of sight not a moment too soon in Chloe's opinion, because the poor boy looked like he was about to burst into tears.

"Did you have to insult his mother like that?!" she asked Beca, not releasing her grip on her arm for fear that she would run back and finish the job.

"Yes the smug son of a bitch asked for it!" Beca growled.

"At least you didn't head-butt him." Chloe chuckled.

"Where are you dragging me?!" Beca snapped out of her angry tirade for long enough to realise that Chloe had yet to let go of her arm and was dragging her down the path with surprising strength, despite Beca dragging her heels.

"I told you there would be a party afterwards," Chloe grinned.

"Where is it?"

The party was at the Trebles house.

"Do we have to go in there?" Beca whined as they stood at the bottom of the front garden. The party had already started and loud music pumped from the open windows, the other Bella's had gone ahead into the party, eager to find booze and drink away the sour taste of their defeat, leaving Chloe and Beca alone.

"Yes, come on, it'll be fun!" Chloe grabbed Beca's hand and pulled her behind her up towards the house.

"You really need to stop saying that." The brunette grunted.

Chloe quickly found them drinks, more to stop Beca's grumbling than anything else. Pushing a shot into Beca's hand she urged the brunette to knock it back, whilst she was occupied with the liquor Chloe took the opportunity to occupy Beca's other hand with a red cup filled with a punch that was so strong that on her first sup Beca almost gagged. Chloe grinned as the brunette spluttered and coughed, thumping her back hard whilst sipping casually at her own drink.

As the burn of the shot and punch had faded to be replaced with a pleasant buzz Beca allowed Chloe to lead her into the spacious living room where all the other Bella's had gathered. Beca was still riding the excitement of the riff off and the rapidly oncoming buzz of the alcohol so she allowed a wide smile to break her face at Stacie when the taller brunette detached herself from the group to walk over to her.

"That rapping was surprising." Stacie smirked.

"Thanks."

"Pretty hot too." Stacie winked at her over the rim of her cup, Beca arched an eyebrow.

"Of course it was, everything I do is hot!" she replied.

"I'll say." Stacie purred. Beca's eyebrow arched higher at the sexy husk in the other girl's voice.

It was at that moment that Fat Amy called Stacie back, and with one last wink the taller girl left, making sure that Beca's eyes were fixed on her swaying hips.

"Damn." Beca muttered, taking another sip of her drink.

It was then that Beca realised that Chloe had disappeared, but a quick glance round the room located her pretty quickly. She was sat in the lap of shower boy, her arms draped round his shoulders and giggling at whatever it was he was whispering in her ear. Not wanting to intrude on their little moment Beca turned and went in search of Jesse, the only other person besides the Bella she knew at the party.

She found him playing beer pong with Bumper and Donald and within a moment had found herself roped into playing on his team.

"Yes Becaw!" Jesse cheered as the ping pong ball plopped into the final cup on the other side of the table perfectly. Beca accepted his high five and grinned at Bumper who looked like he was going to throw up, on account of having to have downed the last four drinks in a row.

"Rematch boys?" she asked sweetly. Bumper looked like he wanted to reply but the bobbing of his Adam's apple gave away how close to vomiting he was, and sure enough a second later he bolted for the door amidst a round of jeering and laughter from the gathered crowd. Jesse thumped her on the shoulder, causing her to lurch forward, her drink spilling onto the floor. The glare she sent his way was enough to send Jesse scampering to the kitchen to fetch her another one.

Beca joined the Bella's in the living room a little while later, unable to handle anymore of Jesse's incesient talk about movie music, in the time she had been gone a makeshift dance floor had developed, the Bella's were all grouped in the middle where Fat Amy had already managed to clear a wide space with her erratic dancing that seemed to involved a lot of swinging her arms around wildly and at one point included lying on her side, her legs pressed together and jerking awkwardly in the air.

"It's mermaid dancing!" Chloe shouted in Beca's ear, obviously noticing the bemusement on her face.

"How do you…no, no I don't want to know!" Beca responded which caused Chloe to giggle and smile widely, her eyes were a little unfocused but still sparkled brightly as the redhead wrapped her arms around the smaller girl, pressing their cheeks together. Beca had come to expect these random hugs, but that didn't mean she was prepared for them, one arm coming up awkwardly round Chloe's waist. Beca allowed the contact for a minute, realising that she was probably all that was holding Chloe up, before she disentangled herself from Chloe's embrace, muttering that she needed another drink.

By the time Beca returned Chloe had found shower boy again and was grinding against him, moving her body to the music in a way that Beca was sure was sinful, Chloe tossed her head back, eyes drifting closed as she danced unaware that Beca had her eyes fixed on the redhead's swaying hips. Beca continued to watch the couple for a scant few seconds before she was suddenly tugged unceremoniously into the throng of bodies, looking up she found Stacie smirking at her.

"Dance with me stud." She purred. Beca was never one to turn down an invitation like that, especially from someone as gorgeous as Stacie. Downing the rest of her newly poured drink she stepped up close to the taller girl, hands automatically coming up to rest on her hips as Stacie began to move against her.

Stacie was a phenomenal dancer, her body moved like liquid, meeting every single one of Beca's movements with flirty precision. Her left hand was buried in her long hair, whilst the other gripped Beca's hip, pulling her close. Glancing up Beca caught sight of Aubrey watching them, her face cold and furious, the drink in her hand clasped so tightly it looked in danger of exploding, unable to resist Beca shot the blonde a sultry wink, taking no small amount of satisfaction as Aubrey visibly bristled before stomping off.

As the song finished, merging seamlessly into another dance track Stacie turned so she was stood facing Beca, her hips still moving under the smaller girl's hands. Stacie's own hands had come up to cup Beca's cheeks and before the DJ had a chance to comprehend what was happening soft lips met her own, she was so shocked that for a moment she remained motionless, but when Stacie sucked lightly on her lower lip she was spurred into action. Hands tightened on the taller girl's hips and she kissed back with enough force to elicit a surprised breath from the other girl, smirking as she did so.

The kiss lasted for only a few seconds before Beca pulled back. "What was that for?"

"Just wanted to see if the rumours were true." Stacie grinned before winking. "They totally are by the way." Turning away she disappeared into the crowd, leaving Beca standing a little confused.

A flash of red caught her eye and turning her head Beca saw Chloe standing a few feet away. She was still dancing with shower boy, her back to his front and her hips moving to every beat of the music, but her eyes, now much clearer than they had been before were locked on Beca. It was clear she had witnessed the entire exchange between her and Stacie. There was a strange look on the other girl's face, in the dim light it looked almost like jealousy. Beca saw it only briefly because as soon as Beca's eyes met baby blue irises Chloe was moving, taking her companion by the hand and dragging him off and out of sight.

* * *

It was 2am and the party was showing no signs of slowing down, if anything it seemed that there were more people flooding into the Trebles house, everywhere Beca looked there were bodies and finding somewhere that didn't mean being crammed between several different people was becoming very difficult. Beca's mood had dropped since the excitement of the riff off had worn off, not helped by the fact that since kissing Stacie at the beginning of the evening her success with women had been limited to say the least, this seemed to be because Jesse had an annoying habit of turning up just when he wasn't wanted, despite Beca's many death glares and threats to have him neutered her best friend just grinned goofily at her before ruffling her hair and walking away. Beca was very close to punching him…again.

Eventually the crowds of people and the need for fresh air forced Beca outside, the front garden was a no go, people gathered on the lawn turning it into another dance floor, that and Aubrey was standing outside and Beca was doing her best to avoid the blonde seeing as every time Aubrey spotted her she looked like flames were about to shoot out of her eyes. Her search for solitude drove Beca round the back of the house to a back garden that people had yet to spill into it seemed. Finding a bench, the brunette flopped down onto it with a heavy sigh, cradling her red cup between her hand she stared down at the liquid swirling round inside the plastic. She had stuck around at the party far longer than she usually would have, especially as the chances of her going home with someone were getting more and more remote by the second.

Despite her desire to leave, there was something keeping Beca at the party, a nagging voice telling her to stick it out, Beca put it down to the alcohol that she was actually listening to the voice and staying when she could be at home, asleep.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't register that she was no longer alone until a body settled down next to her on the bench, and even then it took them prodding her before she was jerked back to reality with a start.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." Chloe smiled guiltily as Beca wiped her spilt drink off her trousers.

"It's fine." Beca muttered exasperatedly, nose wrinkling at the strong smell of alcohol that now drifted off of her clothes. "It's not like I liked these trousers or anything."

"That'll come out in a wash." Beca looked at the redhead whose guilty smile had been replaced by a coy one. Beca merely grunted in response which prompted a drunken giggle from the redhead next to her.

"So where's your shower buddy?" Beca asked a moment later taking a sip of what was left of her drink.

"They're sat right next to me." Beca choked at Chloe's response, coughing loudly as the liquid came spraying back out of her mouth in a very undignified manner. "I meant the _other_ one." She croaked finally regaining the ability to speak.

"Oh!" Chloe's voice rang with innocence but Beca knew she'd done it on purpose. "You mean Tom? I think he's passed out somewhere. He's pretty drunk."

"So are you." Beca said, noting that the redhead's gaze was a little unfocused again and she was swaying on the bench perhaps slightly more than was necessary.

"That's true." Chloe conceded. "But the riff off is always a good excuse for a party," Beca was once again taken by surprise when Chloe suddenly hit her arm. "You were so good in the riff off! Where did you learn to rap?!"

"It's just something I picked up." Beca mumbled, rubbing her arm.

"Well it was totes amazing." Chloe said chirpily. Beca rolled her eyes at the phrase, a personal favourite of the redhead.

Chloe drained her own cup and placed it down by her feet, glancing sideways at her Beca saw that the other girls was staring down at her hands, the look on her face showed that she wanted to say something but wasn't quite sure how to phrase it. Knowing Chloe, Beca was sure that it wouldn't be long before the redhead blurted out whatever was on her mind.

She didn't have to wait long.

"So you and Stacie looked pretty cosy on the dancefloor." Chloe's voice was nonchalant but there was an edge to it that Beca had never heard before.

"Oh, yeah. You know what Stacie's like, she was just mucking about."

"You looked like you were enjoying it." Chloe glanced up at Beca briefly before looking back down at her hands again.

"I was kissing a hot girl; why wouldn't I enjoy it?"

"You're as bad as Tom." Chloe chuckled.

"So is it serious between you two?" Beca asked, leaning her elbows against the back of the bench.

"I don't know." Chloe leant back too, running a hand through her hair. "I mean he's a nice enough guy, and the sex is great, and I think he wants it to be more, but I'm just not sure I want it to be."

Beca nodded her agreement. "Relationships are a waste of time in my opinion." There was a bitterness in her tone that made Chloe look up.

"Have you ever been in one?" Chloe asked a little hesitantly. Beca glanced at her, her mouth set in a hard line that Chloe was coming to recognise as the expression she made when she didn't want to talk about something.

"I know enough to know I don't want one." Like her expression Beca's voice was hard, a clear indication that this avenue of conversation was done.

"So how long have you been in DJing?" Chloe asked a moment later, desperate to keep the conversation from slipping into awkward silence.

"Since I was about 16." Beca took some time to think about her reply. "I've always been interested in music, but we had an experimental programme at our school one year, the principal was looking for ways to make the school more appealing to potential students so they invested some money in alternative music classes. They got some people to come in with DJ equipment and teach a small group of us how to do it." the brunette sipped her drink as Chloe watched, not wanting to say anything that would interrupt her.

"I loved it from the moment they first let me touch the mixing equipment, it just came so easily to me to take a couple of songs and put them together. It's just like a jigsaw, working out which pieces fit together and which don't, but more than that just because two pieces of music don't fit together in one way doesn't mean that they won't in another." Beca was smiling as she spoke and Chloe could see the passion she had for music coming through in her words, the only other time the redhead had seen that had been when Beca had been performing on stage with the band.

"Which do you prefer; performing on stage or mixing?"

"I get different kind of rushes from both, I mean when you perform with a band there's the whole group thing, you know? Everyone has a role to play and when we all put our sounds together we can come out with something pretty special." Beca said thoughtfully. "But when I'm making a mix, it's me and the laptop, and the decisions that _I_ make will determine how good the sound is and I like that pressure, it drives me to make my music and my mixes the best they can be," the brunette paused and flashed Chloe a sly grin, "besides, both are _very_ popular with the ladies."

"If you say so." Chloe sniffed in reply.

"I know so." Beca laughed. Chloe rolled her eyes, shifting her body on the bench so that she was no close enough to Beca for their thighs to be touching.

"You know, it's nice to see you opening up a little." Chloe said softly, her left hand coming up to rest lightly next to Beca's on the bench, her little finger brushing against the other girl's, the motion was not unnoticed by Beca who glanced down at their hands whilst trying to work out how to reply to Chloe's comment. "I knew there was a soft side behind those walls." Chloe's voice was softer still and she was moving towards Beca, one hand coming up to cup Beca's cheek much like the brunette had done in the bar all those weeks ago.

Beca's heart was beating fast in her chest, her lips had gone dry and as Chloe moved closer still she wet her lips with a soft swipe of her tongue, noticing that Chloe's gaze flickered down at the motion. Her own hand had come up to rest on Chloe's neck, thumb stroking the soft skin she found there, they were so close to each other that Beca could feel Chloe's breath on her face, the sweet scent of the alcohol they had been drinking filling her nostrils. The redhead's eyes were drifting closed as her hand caressed Beca's cheek, their lips a hairs breadth away from each other. She was so beautiful it almost

That was when Beca snapped back to reality, jerking her head away and forcing herself to tear herself away from Chloe and onto her feet, the other girl's eyes opened, confusion shining behind the drunken haze.

"What are you doing?!" She put as much space as she could between herself and the redhead, knowing that if she got within a few feet of the redhead she wouldn't be able to stop herself, it had taken all of her self-control to get off the bench.

"What do you think I was doing?" Chloe's voice was coloured with confusion. She stood up and took a step forward.

"I can't." Beca croaked.

"You can't what?" Chloe demanded. "You can't talk to me like a normal person? You can't kiss me? What makes me so different to the dozens of other girls you've kissed."

"It's got nothing to do with that!" Beca found herself yelling.

"Then what? Why are you so adamant that no one can get close to you?" Chloe yelled back, Beca wasn't quite sure how they had got here but she supposed that the alcohol coursing through both their systems had a lot to do with the irrational anger.

"Why do you want to?!"

"What's so wrong with me wanting to be your friend, to help you?" Chloe seemed to ignore Beca's question and took another step forward, her face flushing red with annoyance. "Does it conflict too much with your 'everyone thinks I'm a bitch and I don't care' image!" the words took Beca a bit by surprise and it must have shown on her face because Chloe immediately looked guilty.

"I didn't mean that I'm…"

"Why is so important to you that _everyone_ has to be your friend and confide in you?!" Beca had recovered quickly and her defensive side, the one that reared its ugly head whenever anyone tried to get close to her. "Are you so scared of being alone or bored that you can't just let people be! I don't _have_ to tell you anything about my life, I thought I'd made that perfectly clear, or are you just sore because I didn't kiss you?" As the words left her mouth Beca hated how nasty they sounded, even more so when Chloe's face fell. She looked so upset that Beca took an involuntary step forward, her hand rising to comfort the redhead.

But Chloe had turned on her heel and walked away before she could, by the time Beca registered that the other girl had moved she was back inside the house.

"Fucking hell, not again." Beca muttered. "Chloe!"

* * *

Chloe pushed herself through the crowd, heading straight for the kitchen, she could feel the anger boiling around inside of her and although she knew that it would probably only make things worse she needed a drink. She thought she heard someone calling her name, but kept going without turning back, her mind fixed solely on getting a drink.

"Whoa!" Chloe collided with a hard body, two hands coming up to grip her arms as she tumbled. "Are you ok?" Looking up Chloe saw Jesse's concerned face looking back at her.

"I'm fine." She said curtly, pulling herself out of his grip and grabbing a red cup off the side.

"Oh!" Jesse had followed her over to the counter. "I know that face!"

"What?!"

"That's the 'Beca Mitchell has just been a _colossal_ bitch to me' face." Jesse grinned goofily at her.

"You see this face often I take it?" Chloe grumbled in a very uncharacteristic fashion as she poured some punch into her cup.

"Only on pretty much every single person she has a conversation with." Jesse chuckled, leaning against the counter next to her. "It's a special talent she has, Beca Mitchell can rub _anyone_ and I mean anyone up the wrong way."

"You're telling me!" Chloe took a long swig of her drink.

"She's always like that in the beginning." Jesse said a moment later, clearly feeling the need to defend his friend. "Beca doesn't really know how to deal with enthusiastic people."

"Like me?"

"Like both of us, heck the first time we met I tried to kiss her and she punched me in the face!" Chloe couldn't help the laugh at the mental image, whilst being grateful that that hadn't been Beca's reaction to Chloe trying to kiss her not five minutes ago. Chloe blamed the alcohol and her own curiosity for leaning in like that, she had been sure that Beca was going to kiss her, the look in the brunette's eyes had mirrored her own, excitement tinged with nervousness. But at the last second as her eyes had drifted closed something had changed and Beca had been gone, the look in her eyes now replaced by one that for a split second had looked like fear before returning to its usual hard blue.

Chloe was pulled from her thoughts by Jesse speaking. "…know she can be very difficult to start with, but there are reasons for that…and no I'm not going to tell you what they are." Jesse said in response to the questioning look Chloe sent his way. "You shouldn't take anything she says to heart; you just need to give her some time."

"You make it sound so easy."

"Oh it's not gonna be easy!" Jesse laughed. "But…I think you're good for her."

"What do you mean?" Chloe frowned. Jesse raised his eyebrows before nodding behind her. Turning to follow his gaze Chloe saw a very demure looking Beca approaching, a cup in her hand.

"I, um, got you this." The brunette murmured holding it out to Chloe. "But you've already got one so I'll just…"

"No!" Chloe blurted the word out as Beca made to leave, glancing at Jesse who gave her the smallest nod she took the cup from the brunette. "Thank you." She smiled at Beca, trying to tell her with her eyes that she didn't need to say the words, Chloe knew what she wanted to say. Beca smiled back, but it didn't reach her eyes, and without letting Chloe say anything more she walked away, swallowed up quickly by the crowd.

"See, told you." Jesse muttered in Chloe's ear.

* * *

 **"** Earth to Beca!" the snapping of Mark's fingers in front of her face caused Beca to jump.

"Sorry." She muttered, her mind had been preoccupied with her argument with Chloe the night before. "What's up?"

"You seem pretty spaced today, what's the matter?" Mark sat down next to her, his fingers flicking idly over the strings of his guitar.

"Nothing just got a lot on my mind." Beca replied. "Why did you take the fall for me?" she asked suddenly. Mark's fingers stilled on the guitar before he looked up at her.

"How long have we known each other Beca?"

"I dunno, about 7 years maybe."

"Exactly, and in all that time I've tried my best to look out for you, to the best of my ability. Not that you make it easy." He nudged her softly. "So you just need to trust me that I did the right thing."

"Thank you." Beca smiled at her friend.

She had known Mark since she was a teenager, he had lived on her street and been a few years above her in school, despite their age gap they had always been close, as chance would have it when he went off to college he chose Barden and after graduation he had chosen to stay on. One of the reasons Beca had agreed to her father's was knowing that she would be near someone she knew and trusted, he knew more about her past than anyone, even Jesse.

"Someone on your mind?" Mark asked with a grin as Beca played a soft melody on her guitar, eyes still gazing.

"What?"

"Someone being a pretty redhead." Beca rolled her eyes. "Don't think I didn't notice you flirting."

"I flirt with everyone."

"Not like that you don't, and you don't just jump into a fistfight for just anyone either." Mark's grin widened as Beca scowled before his expression softened. "You know, I think you should tell her."

Beca bristled. "Mark." Her tone was a warning.

"I mean it Becs, you can't keep holding everyone at arms-length. Life just doesn't work that way."

"I don't keep you…"

"Yes you do, I may know more than other people but you still don't let me in." the older man slung an arm round her shoulder, noticing the tension in her body immediately.

"I can't." Mark sighed at the small admission from the brunette next to him.

"Maybe this girl can help." He said before standing up and leaving Beca sat alone, losing herself once again to her thoughts.

* * *

 **So that's chapter 5! I'm a massive movie fan, heck I love them so much I studied them for 4 years for my degree so the idea of someone not like movies like Beca does in the movies is an alien concept to me, which is why I had her like at least one movie! I hope everyone enjoyed that and please leave me a review letting me know what you liked, didn't like, would like to see happen or even just a question you want to ask! I want to hear from you guys! :) Until next time which I hope will be within 2 weeks.**

 **Pirate-x-Girls**


	6. Chapter 6

**So I've spent the last week lying on my sofa pretty much coughing my guts up every few minutes and generally feeling like death, and whilst this has been horrible the good news is that it gave me time to write this chapter quicker than I had first anticipated. Huge thanks again to everyone who has favourited, followed and reviewed the last chapter this story now has over 5,000 views and almost 100 follows so thank you so much for that! Enjoy this chapter!**

 **The song used in this chapter is _Levitate_ by Hollywood Undead. **

* * *

**You Call Me A Bitch Like It's A Bad Thing**

 **Chapter 6**

When Chloe Beale was seven years old she fell from the top of tree that sat at the bottom of her garden, the fall had broken her arm and given her a nasty concussion, prompting her mother to sternly forbid her from ever climbing the tree again, much to the distress of the young redhead. For six agonising weeks her arm had been in a cast and every day Chloe had gazed longingly out of the window at the tree which had bested her. She had been so close to the top when she fell, inches from the final branch, she knew she could do it…next time.

As soon as the cast was off Chloe had waited impatiently for a moment when her mother's back was turned so she could dash out into the garden and try again, she felt a little bit bad for disobeying a direct instruction, especially one that had been born out of concern for her safety, but her determination and desire to best the tree and reach the top fuelled an unusual rebellious streak that spurred her into the garden and up the tree. The fear of falling didn't kick in until she was reaching for the last branch, the one that had bested her before, but the adrenaline that had been coursing through her body had been enough to drown out the fear and push her up to grasp it, a triumphant laugh escaping her lips. The sound of her mother's angry voice had her scurrying back down to the ground but it wasn't enough to dim the grin on her face, although she adopted a suitably demure expression for the telling off she received from her mother.

When she was eight, Gordon Cross had pushed her over in the playground after she'd tried to befriend him, proclaiming loudly for all of the other students to hear that girls and boys couldn't be friends because 'girls were icky and they smell'. Many other girls would have given up, run back to their other friends. But Chloe was not like most girls and where others saw failure she saw only a challenge, despite her young age. Picking herself up she had chased after Gordon, the almost permanent smile on her face brighter than ever and her eyes flashing in determination.

Within a week they were inseparable.

Gordon had become one of her best friends and when they were in high school her boyfriend, she had often teased him about his initial reluctance to her friend, stating in jest that she was the best thing to happen to him. In response he would roll his eyes and begrudgingly nod, it was hard to argue with Chloe Beale.

There were two things that everyone who had met Chloe knew, the first was that her determination to succeed was second to none and she refused to let her fears stand in the way. This trait was perfectly showcased by the tree climbing incident, although it was just one of hundreds more like it. Chloe Beale was determined, she never gave up going after something she wanted and she wasn't going to let something as small as fear to stop her. Over the course of her life she had conquered any obstacle that was placed in her way, pushing her fears down with ease, like she had when reaching for the final branch of the tree.

The second thing that was universally known about Chloe Beale was her unwavering desire to get on with _everyone_ , and to see the best in them, regardless of what she heard. Most people were powerless to resist the redheads natural charm and smile as bright as the sun, but for those who resisted her persistence was usually enough to sway them. It had been the case with Gordon Cross and, Chloe hoped, Beca Mitchell.

It was because of these two dominating personality traits that Chloe found herself standing, albeit a little nervously, outside the bar she hadn't been expecting to come back to, staring at the door, an inner battle raging within her.

The memories of the last time she had been here were at the fore of her mind, flashes of Brad's face swimming in her mind that still send a tendril of fear clasping at her heart, making it speed up in her chest. Although Chloe had never been one to succumb to her fears, she had never experienced terror like that night, it had paralysed her whole body, rendering her incapable of movement. The remnants of that paralysing fear were what was keeping her outside of the pub, wanting to push open the door, but finding her hand refusing to move. She couldn't bring herself to look to her left, knowing she would see the opening to the alley, where Brad had pinned her against the wall. Where Beca had come to save her.

Beca.

That was the reason Chloe was here, Chloe's burning desire to know more about Beca had her standing on the pavement in the early evening, fighting the fear that _that_ night had left in her. Their last argument at the Trebles party two weeks beforehand had instead of putting Chloe off from her mission to get behind Beca's walls had only spurred her on further. She had thought about talking to Jesse and trying to get some information out of him, but then she had remembered the look on Mark's face when he had taken the fall at the bar for Beca and the tone of his voice when he had told Chloe that it was something he needed to do for Beca. She realised that he was probably the more likely of the two to know more about Beca, that and if Aubrey caught Chloe talking to a Treble she would skin her alive.

Since the Trebles party she had been walking past the bar, which in the light of day she discovered was called _The Pit_ , not the most encouraging of names, checking to see if she could see Mark or any of the band members. She had gone over a week without success and then by chance one evening had seen a flyer advertising _The Sickness_ 's next gig, and had decided that that would be her best chance to be able to speak to Mark.

She was aware that Beca would probably not be happy with what she was doing, the brunette was a very private person, but Chloe's curiosity had gotten the better of her, she didn't know why she was so adamant, but Chloe needed to know more about her. Chloe knew there was more to Beca than the rough exterior everyone else saw, she had seen it in Beca's eyes when she had cleaned her wounds in this very bar and again at the party when they had almost kissed. Beca could be nice, flirtatious even and Chloe wanted to know why it was the walls went up whenever she got close.

The door in front of her was an obstacle, standing in the way of her and her goal. Chloe was never one to let something as trivial as a door stand in her way of getting what she wanted, so taking a deep breath and steeling her resolve she raised a hand and stretched it out towards the door, jaw set in determination.

"Chloe!" the sound of her name caused her hand to falter, turning her head she saw Fat Amy, Stacie and Cynthia Rose coming up the street towards her. It was Fat Amy who had called out and she bounded towards the redhead, a wide grin on her face. "What's up Red?" Amy came to a stop next to her, bumping her shoulder lightly against Chloe's by way of greeting. "Wouldn't have expected to see you outside this bar, especially not without your little feisty bodyguard."

"I came to speak to Mark," Chloe said as the other two joined them, "You know, to thank him for everything he did that night."

"Six weeks after it happened?" Stacie asked, her eyes telling Chloe she didn't believe her. Chloe thought about pushing the lie, but she's never been any good at lying, the truth was always easily readable on her face.

"Fine, I've come to see if he can tell me anymore about Beca." She admitted finally. "I've known her for like two months and know almost nothing about her."

"So you're going behind Shortstack's back in a covert intelligence mission to gain valuable intel on how to bring down that frown." Amy shot Chloe a judgemental look that quickly melted into a large grin. "I couldn't have come up with a better plan myself! Count me in!"

"I wouldn't say it was covert!" Chloe protested. "And you really don't need to come with…" her words trailed off as Amy was already gone, the door swinging shut behind her.

"This should be interesting." Cynthia Rose muttered as Stacie motioned for Chloe to go in. Taking a deep breath, she stepped through the door, only releasing it when the door had closed.

The bar was quieter than the last time Cloe had been here, but no less dark. The band wasn't due on for another 45 minutes, but as Chloe had hoped they were already here, setting up at the back of the stage. Chloe recognised Mark fiddling with a microphone on stage. "Why don't you guys go and get the drinks in?" Fat Amy looked like she was going to protest to Chloe's request but Cynthia Rose stepped in.

"Come on, let Red do her thing. She's subtler than you." Chloe smiled as Amy squawked in indignation at the other Bella's words before she set off towards the stage, weaving her way through the tables and chairs.

Mark looked up as she approached, his handsome face creasing in a confused frown for a moment before recognition sparked in his eyes and he smiled.

"Pretty redhead!" he greeted her warmly. Chloe's eyebrows raised at his words, prompting him to laugh. "It's Chloe right?"

"You remember me?"

"Of course I remember you, the girl that Beca beat a guy to a pulp to save. It would be hard to forget a night like that!" he chuckled. "Don't think this bar has ever had a night that action packed or violent before."

"I find that hard to believe." Chloe cast a nervous look around at the bars clientele, who were mostly comprised of large tattooed men who glared at each other over their drinks, some of them looked seconds away from a fight.

"You'd be surprised, we don't see many fights round here and now most of these guys would be _very_ afraid of going a couple of rounds with our resident hot head." Mark lifted an amp up off the floor, the action causing his t-shirt to tighten against his chest and biceps, and Chloe's eyebrows to raise fractionally in appreciation. Mark notice the action and flexed his muscles, offering her a cheeky wink before laughing loudly, Chloe couldn't help but smile with him.

"So what can I do for you?" Mark asked as he fiddled with the knobs on the amp.

"I wanted to thank you for everything you did that night." Chloe looked down at her hands as she spoke, suddenly feeling a little nervous.

"You're welcome, even if it was six weeks ago." Mark flashed her a smile to show he was joking.

"It…took me a while to work up to coming back here." Chloe admitted.

"I can understand that." Mark's expression softened. "It was pretty intense; I'm impressed you've come back at all." He shot her a smile that Chloe returned, liking him more and more by the second. "Was that all you wanted?"

"What do you mean?"

"As flattered as I am, you didn't come all this way to thank me." Mark sat down on the top of the amp, arms crossed over his chest. "You want to know about Beca."

Chloe thought about denying it but quickly decided there was no point. "How did you know?"

"You think you're the first girl to come in here with questions about our mysterious brunette?" Mark looked her up and down. "Although I must say, you're one of the prettiest she's slept with." He winked at her again causing Chloe to blush.

"We haven't slept together."

Mark's eyebrows shot up. "You haven't? interesting." He mused.

"What is?"

"Nothing." Mark shook his head. "So why come to me?"

"You seem to know her pretty well."

"What makes you think that?"

"You don't lie to the police for just anyone." Chloe pointed out.

"True." Mark nodded. "I've known Beca a long time and you're right, I know her pretty well. Probably better than anyone."

"That's what I thought." Chloe sank down into a chair, her heart beating a little faster. "So will you tell me?"

"Depends what you want to know." Mark replied cryptically.

"So many things." Chloe muttered to herself, trying to sort through the multitude of questions that ran round her head. "She's so hot and cold you know, one minute she's being so nice and I see that amazing soft side to her and then the moment I think I'm making progress with her she shuts me down. Why?"

"Beca's always been complicated," Mark said carefully. "Letting people in has never been easy to her, especially in recent years. She's always done things in her own way and doesn't really give a damn about what anyone else thinks."

"I'll say." Chloe snorted. Mark laughed.

"Beca's been through a lot." Mark said seriously. "And it's changed her, made her tough, I would say it's made her too tough. She's forgotten how to let people in, how to trust that she's not going to get hurt."

"What happened to her?" Chloe asked her mind suddenly remembering something Beca had said the last time they were in this bar ' _I've had worse_ '

"I'm afraid I can't really tell you what you want to know," Mark sighed. "It's not my place, it should come only from Beca. What I can tell you is that I think you're right to be trying, you're good for Beca."

"Really?" That was the second time Chloe had heard this. "Why?"

"Because you're persistent. Beca's used to people running away whenever she scowls at them, you've stayed. She needs someone like you in her life." Mark smiled but he was no longer looking at Chloe but at a spot just behind her. "Although that scowl can be pretty scary."

Before Chloe could ask what he meant she heard a voice behind her. "Chloe?" Recognising it immediately Chloe turned in her seat to find Beca walking towards them, her guitar bag slung over her shoulder and a questioning frown on her face.

"What are you doing here?" Chloe blurted out.

"I was about to ask you the same thing." Beca replied her gaze flickering to Mark, eyes narrowing.

"I saw her outside and invited her in." Mark stood his ground under the brunette's steely gaze. "I thought she'd like to see you play again." Beca looked back to Chloe who nodded her agreement, not trusting herself to speak.

"Yeah, I was just telling Chloe how you're going to be doing a lot more gigs with us now, what with Haley being pregnant and all."

"You were?" Beca was still looking between the two of them suspiciously.

"Yes, but don't worry I've told her it won't affect your quality time with the Bella's." Beca's scowl intensified as Mark grinned at her, clearly reading something from his words and expression that Chloe was missing.

"Thanks." Beca sounded anything but thankful as she bobbed down, unzipping her guitar case.

"I'm gonna go and find the others," Chloe finally found her voice and rose from her chair, jerking her thumb in the direction of the bar.

"Who else is here?" Beca looked up sharply.

"Fat Amy, Cynthia Rose…and Stacie." Beca arched an eyebrow at Chloe's hesitance in saying Stacie's name before glancing over at the bar. The brunette in question was watching them and when she saw Beca look over she gave a flirty wave. Chloe tried to ignore the slight twinge of jealousy that flared in her stomach when Beca waved back, a smirk pulling at her lips.

As she joined the other girls Fat Amy passed her a pint which Chloe drank from gratefully. "So what did he tell you?"

"Not much really," Chloe replied distractedly, her eyes were fixed on Beca who was talking urgently with Mark on the stage as she unknotted some wires. Her body language and expression told Chloe that the small brunette wasn't happy, Mark didn't appear to be to phased by the younger girls anger he was openly laughing and even went so far as to ruffle Beca's hair. This earned him a swift punch to the arm before Beca stormed off.

"I told you I would have been better; I'd have wrestled him for information. Got him in an Australian headlock."

"That is exactly why you _wouldn't_ have been better." Stacie snorted into her drink. "He'd have called the cops on us." Before their argument could go any further it was brought to an end by the band starting their set, the group settling in an unoccupied table in front of the stage.

"Hi everyone, we're _The Sickness_." Mark greeted them through the microphone, smiling at the cheers that came from the crowd. "We're gonna be doing some different stuff tonight, so bear with us. I promise it's good."

It was good, this time the group were using more electronic and synthetic music and perhaps most surprisingly of all rapping. Chloe saw immediately where Beca had gotten proficient if she'd been learning off Mark. Chloe had little experience with rap and rock music together but found that she really enjoyed listening to it, even if some of the language was a little vulgar. Chloe was thankful they hadn't played this when Aubrey was here, the blonde would have walked out.

After a few songs with Mark singing on his own he beckoned Beca to come and stand at the front of the stage with him. "Now guys, the last time we performed we had Beca here fill in for Haley, our lead singer. Well it turns out that Haley is pregnant, so quite rightly she'll be taking some time off from the band." A collective groan rose from the crowd. "I know it sucks. _But_ what this means though is that Beca will be joining us for all our performances." The crowd roared their approval and Beca took a small bow.

"When she isn't singing a cappella that is." Mark added cheekily, laughing at the scowl Beca shot his way when the crowd's approval turned to laughter. "Moving on! I'm gonna let Beca sing this next song with me." Crushing the brunette to his side in a one armed hug Mark pressed a microphone into her hand as the intro started. Beca slung her guitar onto her back so the neck was pointed to the ground, tapping her foot to the beat as Mark began to rap the first verse.

 _Can't stop I need some help_

 _Fuck you I'm by myself_

 _Is it a truth or lie?_

 _It's what you can't deny_

' _Cause it's the way you think_

 _Mixed with the pills and drink_

 _Brought back to the way you are_

 _Float up 'til you're close to God_

 _You know that hiding ain't gonna keep you safe_

 _Because the tears on your face_

 _They leak and leave a trace_

 _So just when you think that true love's begun_

 _It goes off at any second just like a loaded gun_

Beca jumped in to sing the chorus, her voice slightly higher than usual but no less powerful than they were used to hearing. It actually sent shivers down Chloe's spine and not for the first time she wondered why it was that Beca had yet to be given a solo, she definitely had one of the best voices that Chloe had ever heard.

 _You know, I can take you straight to heaven if you let me…_

 _You know I, I can make your body levitate if you let me_

 _You know that I can make your body levitate…le-levitate_

 _I can make your body levitate…le-levitate (you know)_

"Whoa." Stacie murmured from next to Chloe when Beca finished allowing Mark to take over again.

 _Can't stop the feeling_

 _High as a ceiling_

 _I got the money who's fuckin' dealing?_

 _You feel the heat like a barrel of a gun_

 _I forgot the last time I saw the sun_

 _We've got this disease_

 _It's digging deeper in me_

 _It's like my mind is leaving_

 _But my heart keeps beating_

 _So I'll paint the walls, red drip from the nose_

 _Where it goes, nobody really knows_

 _Hit the bottle and she's gonna follow_

 _I fall asleep there ain't no tomorrow_

 _Gone too far, no one can save me_

 _Who needs you when I've got my baby_

 _My baby is beautiful she loves me true_

 _And if she dies I hope I die too_

 _You know, I can take you straight to heaven if you let me…_

 _You know I, I can make your body levitate if you let me_

 _You know that I can make your body levitate…le-levitate_

 _I can make your body levitate…le-levitate (you know)_

This time when Beca finished the chorus she launched straight into her own rap, moving to the front of the stage, eyes drifting closed as the words tumbled rapidly from her, a few cheers rose from the people watching, the loudest coming from Cynthia Rose.

 _I'mma put down on another sack of them_

 _Then it's straight back to the flask again_

 _I can't help stop what's happening_

 _On the wrong track again, yeah I'm back again_

 _Up shits creek and I'm paddling_

 _Blacked out room in a Travel Inn_

 _Good ideas, I'm lacking them_

 _I'm too fucked up, now I'm babbling_

 _Wondering how to fix these damages_

 _All these goddamn damages_

 _Cover myself with bandages_

 _From all these dick damn damages_

 _Wondering how to fix these damages_

 _All these goddamn damages_

 _Cover myself with bandages_

 _From all these goddamn damages_

Pausing to only take the quickest of breaths, Beca sang the chorus for the last time.

 _You know, I can take you straight to heaven if you let me…_

 _You know I, I can make your body levitate if you let me_

 _You know that I can make your body levitate…le-levitate_

 _I can make your body levitate…le-levitate_

Chloe and the three other Bella's were on their feet as the song finished, Beca looked down at them panting heavily and Chloe was relieved to see a wide smile break out on her face at the sight of them.

"Anyone else a little turned on by that?" Stacie asked, Chloe joined in with Fat Amy's denial whilst internally thinking that yes, watching Beca rap and sing like that had turned her on more than she would ever admit out loud.

"Wasn't she great!" Mark grinned slapping Beca on the back. "That was the last song, but thanks for coming out. Have a few more drinks and we'll see you next time!" he hopped down off the stage and was immediately surrounded by a group of fans, all clamouring to speak with him.

Chloe was about to go in search of Beca when the brunette appeared next to their table, a drink in her hand and a smile on her face. She was still breathing a little heavily and in the dimness of the club Chloe could see a think sheen of sweat covering the exposed skin of her face and the top of her chest. Chloe tried hard not to stare.

"It's like I've got my own little fan club."

"Yeah, like we're your biggest fans," Fat Amy grinned.

"Will you sign my bra?" Stacie asked pulling the collar of her shirt to one side.

"Sorry, I don't have a pen." Beca replied, much to Chloe's relief.

"So that was really different to your last show." She spoke up in a bid to stop the flirty looks passing between the two brunettes.

"Yeah," Beca took a sip of her drink, lightly massaging her throat as the liquid went down. "Mark likes to try some new things, he's been obsessed with electronic rock for weeks."

"Is that where you learnt to rap?" Stacie asked. Beca nodded.

"Yep, it started out as a bit of fun when we were bored in rehearsals but then we both realised we were actually quite good at it."

"It was brilliant!" Cynthia Rose grinned offering a hand to the smaller girl, which Beca promptly slapped her own palm against smiling broadly.

"Thanks."

Chloe expected Beca to disappear once their conversation moved on but to the redhead's delight Beca took a seat with them at the table sipping casually at her drink she listened as Fat Amy and Stacie got into a heated debate about the effects of cardio on singing.

"I agree with Aubrey, it's very important." Stacie was insisting.

"If I wanted to do running, I would have joined the track team!" Amy retorted.

"It helps with your stamina!"

"You run more than anyone else Beca, what do you think?" Chloe teased. Beca responded with her middle finger.

"All I know is I don't need running to help with my stamina." Beca looked at Chloe and winked as the redhead rolled her eyes.

"My god you're as bad as Stacie." Cynthia Rose groaned as the two brunettes high fived, Stacie linking their fingers together briefly.

"I'm gonna go and get another drink." Chloe stood up and headed for the bar the flash of jealousy she had felt earlier making a return, not wanting to dwell on it she moved swiftly away from the group, as she was waiting for her drink she felt a hand softly touch the small of her back.

"You ok?" Beca murmured from behind her and the sensation of her breath ghosting over the shell of her ear sent an involuntary shiver down Chloe's spine.

"I'm fine, why?" she replied, leaning back ever so slightly into Beca's touch.

"You just left the table pretty sharpish." Beca leant forward and signalled the barman's attention, because the bar was pretty crowded the motion pressed her front against Chloe's back, Chloe held her breath as Beca ordered the drinks, waiting for the brunette to realise their position and move away, but as the barman went to fill their order Beca didn't move, her hand remaining on the small of Chloe's back.

"So the others have decided they want to play a bit of pool, you up for it?" Beca asked. Chloe nodded, trying not to be too distracted by the warmth that spread round her entire body, emanating from Beca's hand, she could have sworn that brunette had curled her hand tighter around her hip as she spoke.

"Yeah sure," she managed finally, praying that the other girl didn't hear the stutter in her voice. The barman came back with their drinks and Beca had to remove her hand to take them and hand over the money, Chloe was both relieved and disappointed at the loss of contact. Following Beca back over to the other Bella's who had moved over to the pool table that sat on the other side of the bar she took a long sip of her drink.

"So, basically I thought we could make this interesting." Stacie was saying as Chloe arrived at the pool table. "We play doubles, with one person rotating in because we have an odd number, and the losers do shots!"

"Not shots!" Cynthia Rose moaned.

"It was either that or strip pool." Stacie said. "But I don't think they'd be too happy with us if we did that."

"Why not?!" Amy bellowed, "We're all good looking girls, we'd definitely pull the punters in if we started taking our clothes off, they'd all be like 'ohhh who's that hot Australian girl? I guess the girls she's with are ok but damn I want the Australian!'"

"Shots will be fine." Chloe said quickly as Stacie's eyes lit up at Amy's words. The last thing they needed was for members of the Bella's to be arrested for indecent exposure, it might well give Aubrey a coronary. Stacie squealed in delight as she chucked a cue to Beca who caught it nimbly, "What are the teams?" Chloe asked.

"Me and Shortstack!" Amy said immediately. "And…you and Stacie."

"It's cool, I'll sit out first." Cynthia Rose muttered darkly as she slumped down in a stool.

"You can go and get the shots." Stacie shooed her away as she lined up her first shot, smacking the white ball into the triangle of balls Stacie grinned as two spotted balls spun away from the pack and clattered down different pockets. "It looks like Fat Amy and Beca will need them!" the tall brunette called after Cynthia Rose.

Stacie wasn't wrong, with the next three shots she potted three more balls, only missing on the fourth one because Fat Amy coughed loudly behind her as she went to take the shot causing the white ball to spin off target and into a pocket.

"Cheat!" Stacie protested as Beca plucked the ball out of the pocket to take her first shot.

"I had a tickle in my throat." Amy replied innocently, grinning and giving Beca a high five the moment Stacie's back was turned. Beca's first two shots potted balls, but on the third one was misjudged and the striped ball clattered round the pocket before bouncing out again.

"Still three balls behind." Stacie crowed handing Chloe the cue, "Come on Chlo, bring it home!"

"Bet you 5 dollars she fluffs it." Beca muttered to Amy on the other side of the table, Chloe looked up to find the small DJ smirking at her, her chin leaning on her hands which were balanced on the tip of the cue, as Chloe made eye contact she couldn't help but notice the smaller girl's eyes flicker down to the cleavage exposed by her top. Chloe arched an eyebrow before glancing briefly back to the table, then back up at Beca. Maintaining eye contact she drew her right arm back slowly before snapping it forward sending the white ball shooting forward and the second to last spotted ball slamming into a pocket. Chloe took no small satisfaction as Beca's jaw dropped as Chloe straightened up, offering the smaller girl a wink as she did so.

"Goddamn it!" Beca breathed, fishing a hand in her pocket and slapping a note into Amy's waiting palm without taking her eyes of Chloe. "You don't play fair Red."

"I never said I couldn't play." Chloe replied leaning down and lining up her next shot, "You just assumed that I couldn't." Within five seconds she had potted the final spotted ball and was onto the black. "Maybe you shouldn't underestimate me." The last part was whispered in Beca's ear as she walked past the brunette to take her final shot, Beca swallowed hard at her words and when she looked back at the smaller girl her eyes had darkened and she looked a little dazed. Pleased with her handiwork Chloe proceeded to pot the black comfortably, smirking as Stacie whooped and thumped her on the back.

"Drink up." she said to Beca who still looked a little stunned. The brunette reached for the tray of shots that Cynthia Rose had brought back over and took a cursory sniff at the contents of the glass.

"Is this vodka?!" Cynthia Rose just shrugged in response. "Ok, ok I'm doing it!" Beca grumbled as she caught sight of Chloe's raised eyebrows, tossing the shot back she winced and slapped the empty shot glass down on the table.

"Right next game!"

Beca and Cynthia Rose won the next game against Chloe and Amy, the two of them downing their shots quickly. Chloe sat out for the next game, watching as the four girls started playing dirtier and dirtier, Beca nudged Amy's cue causing the Australian to mishit and send the white ball flying off the table, clattering loudly on the floor. In retaliation Amy 'nudged' Beca as she walked back from the bar, although shoved was probably a better description, the tiny brunette groaned loudly as the pool cue was driven into her stomach from the force of the blow, driving the air from her lungs.

Stacie was using her usual methods to distract both Beca and Cynthia Rose, leading to both of them missing important shots. Cynthia Rose was so distracted attempting to hit the black that she missed the white ball entirely as Stacie 'adjusted' her top, pulling it tight against her chest.

"You're such a cheat!" Chloe laughed from her stool as Cynthia Rose shook her head, attempting to focus.

"I'm simply using my God given talents." Stacie replied with a wink.

"Exactly!" Amy grinned. "Can't help it that these two have the dirty mind set of a fourteen-year-old boy!"

"Hey!" Beca and Cynthia Rose protested at the same time.

"It's true though," Chloe said between peals of laughter, "I'm pretty sure you both need napkins for all that drool."

"I do _not_ drool." Beca sniffed haughtily leaning forward to pot one of the balls with ease before looking back up to Chloe.

"Could have fooled me." The redhead retorted smirking at the scowl that was quick to grace Beca's petite features.

"Shut up Red." She grumbled stomping off to take her next shot.

 **XXXXXX**

They finally decided to call it a night when some of the regulars turfed them off of the pool table, Fat Amy had hotly protested the intrusion but Chloe had soon convinced her that what she needed more than a fight, was her bed. The Australian had agreed and with hurried apologies to the men, one of whom Amy had pushed the Bella's had filed out of the bar.

"Well I'm off to see a man about a dingo!" Fat Amy grinned as they all started to head off towards campus. "I'll see all you lovely Shelia's tomorrow," without warning Amy pulled all four of them into a hug, how she managed to get her arms round all of them Beca had no idea. What she did know was that the Australian's actions pressed her tightly against Chloe, more specifically her face was pressed tightly against the redhead's chest. She could feel the vibrations of Chloe's laughter and with as much dignity as she could muster tried to extract herself.

"You enjoy yourself down there?" Chloe grinned when Fat Amy finally let them with a hearty laugh.

"I've had better." Beca smirked, Chloe's eyes widened in mock surprise.

"Well that was just mean." She pouted.

"You'll get over it." Beca scoffed, her attention turning back to Fat Amy as the Australian started to stumble away, singing loudly. "Is she gonna be ok on her own?"

"We'll make sure she gets back ok." Cynthia Rose rolled her eyes and saying a quick goodbye hurried off with Stacie to intercept Amy who looked like she was about to start urinating against a fire hydrant.

"Looks like it's just the two of us." Chloe said as the other Bella's disappeared round the corner.

"Yeah." Beca muttered, her hands slipping into her pockets. It was the first time they had been alone since their almost kiss and Chloe could feel the residual tension of that moment slowly seeping back.

"I should probably head home." Beca jerked her thumb up the street. "Don't want to give Puk…" she caught herself. " _Aubrey_ any reason to give me laps tomorrow."

"That was almost considerate. You're learning to be nice." Chloe teased, reaching out to ruffle Beca's hair.

"It wasn't considerate, it's self-preservation. I don't wanna run of a stomach full of vodka." The brunette grumbled under her breath twitching out of the way,

"Fair point." Chloe smiled tucking a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. "So I'll see you tomorrow?"

"I guess so." Beca was looking at her with a strange look on her face, it was one that Chloe had seen a couple of times before, there was an almost tenderness in her eyes but within a few seconds it had vanished and the wall was back up. "Yeah, so get home safe."

"I will." Chloe promised, Beca nodded and shuffled on her feet, unsure of how to say goodbye. As usual Chloe was the first to react moving forward she wrapped her arms around the brunette's shoulders pulling her close. She felt Beca tense as usual under the contact, but smiled into the smaller girl's hair when she felt two hands slide loosely round her waist.

"Bye." Beca muttered when she pulled back a few seconds later, eyes looking anywhere but at Chloe.

"Bye Becs." Beca looked a little surprised at the nickname but smiled briefly as she turned and left, disappearing quickly into the night.

 **XXXXXX**

"Chloe you gotta be able to hit that last note." Aubrey turned to look at her best friend, disappointment flashing in her eyes. The redhead in question massaged her throat, and shook her head, clearly upset.

"I can't. It's impossible." She said quietly. "And it's because of my nodes." On the last word her voice broke and Aubrey's expression softened a little.

"Well if you can't do it, then someone else needs to solo." She said heavily. Chloe took a deep breath and glanced back at Beca.

"I think Beca should solo." All concern disappeared from Aubrey's face in an instant and she recoiled as if Chloe had struck her.

"What did you say?"

"I think Beca should solo." Chloe repeated, her voice wavering a little under Aubrey's stare.

"I don't think so." Aubrey sniffed.

"Why not?" Chloe pressed.

"Beca doesn't want to solo." Aubrey looked to Beca who had been loitering behind Chloe with an expression that dared her to speak out.

"I'd be happy to solo, if you let me change the song and arrange it." Aubrey's face turned red at Beca's words.

"That is _not_ going to happen!" Aubrey growled through clenched teeth.

"Why not?"

"Because that's not how we run things here."

"Aubrey," Chloe ventured hesitantly. "Maybe Beca has a point. Maybe…we could try something new."

"Aca-scuse me?!" Aubrey's eyes flashed in anger. "You can sing _Turn the Beat Around_ and that's the last I want to hear of it!" Chloe shrank back at the anger in her voice.

"Why don't you want to listen to any ideas other than your own?!" Beca demanded striding forward. Aubrey turned her furious gaze on the brunette. "You can't see that your song choice is tired and you won't even listen to your best friend!"

"Let me explain something to you, because you still don't seem to get it." Aubrey drew herself up to her full height, hands planted determinedly on her hips. "Our goal is to get back to the finals and these songs _will_ get us there. Chloe knows that." Aubrey looked to Chloe who bit her lip nervously, not sure what to say. "So, excuse me if I don't take advice from some alt-girl with her mad-lib beats because she's never been in a competition." Aubrey sneered and Beca had to push down the urge to punch her. "Have I made myself clear?"

Beca was gearing up to explode back at the captain, but out of the corner of her eye she saw Chloe give a slight shake of her head. "Crystal." She muttered. "I won't solo."

"Fine. Fat Amy?"

"Yes sir,"

"You'll solo." Aubrey turned away from the girls as Amy pumped her fist in the air.

"Yes!"

When practice ended half an hour later Aubrey left without saying a word, leaving Chloe to tidy up.

"Why do you let her walk all over you like that?" Chloe turned at Beca's question, shrugging briefly.

"She's the captain. It's not my place to argue with her."

"Bullshit!" Beca shook her head. "She needs people arguing with her, she can't see that her set isn't going to work."

"It's worked before." Chloe reasoned.

"Yes because that ended _so_ well for you guys." Beca mimed puking, stopping abruptly at Chloe's arched eyebrow.

"You haven't known Aubrey as long as I have. It takes some time to get used to her…driven personality. I trust her judgement" Chloe slung her bag over her shoulder and headed for the door, Beca falling into step beside her.

"Maybe so, but you shouldn't sell yourself short because of that." Beca said as they came to a stop outside the building. "You're worth more than that, a lot more." The last sentence was said so quietly that Chloe had to strain her ears to catch it and by the time the redhead had processed what she had heard Beca was gone.

* * *

 **This chapter was originally going to be longer, but this seemed like a better place to end it than where I had originally planned, I also didn't expect the scenes in the bar to span pretty much the whole chapter but I like how it's worked out. Please leave a review letting me know what you thought! I should be back with the next chapter in a week or two!**

 **Pirate-x-Girls**


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm sorry for the wait between updates this time, I didn't want to leave it almost a month but my getting over my illness took longer than I thought and then I was back at work catching up with all the stuff that had happened whilst I was off. This chapter is another one that was supposed to be longer, but if I'd included everything I wanted to it would have been pushing about 12,000 words, and I'm trying to keep the chapters trimmed so they don't become boring! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, followed and favourited it means a lot. I'll be starting work on the next chapter pretty much right away and hope to have it up in a couple of weeks. Enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

 **You Call Me A Bitch Like It's A Bad Thing**

 **Chapter 7**

Dr Mitchell looked up from his desk as a tentative knock sounded at his door. "Come in."

The door opened and Jesse's nervous face appeared in the gap. "You…wanted to see me sir?"

"Ah yes, Jesse come in!" Benjamin put aside the paper he had been grading and gestured to the chair in front of his desk. "Thank you for coming, I wanted to speak to you about Beca."

"Ok?"

"How has she been?" it had been well over a month since Benjamin had seen or spoken to his daughter, which given the small size of the campus made Beca's avoidance of him something very impressive. There had been time when he had started for her dorm room, but always he had stopped himself before he had gotten too close, his own cowardice holding him back.

"She's doing fine. Well you know as fine as Beca can be being at college." Jesse chuckled weakly, the noise dying on his lips at the professor's small frown.

"Her face, is it…" Benjamin gestured to his own face, the memory of his daughters battered and bruised face still fresh in his mind.

"She's all healed up." Jesse confirmed. "No lasting damage." The boy went back to rubbing his thighs nervously, eyes darting around the room.

"Good, I'm glad to hear it." Dr Mitchell took a breath. "Look, Jesse, usually I would not involve a student in my personal business but I find myself at a loss of what to do with Beca, I haven't spoken to her since the…fight, and truth be told I'm worried."

Jesse took a breath, deep in thought. "I'm not sure it's really my place to get involved sir. Beca is my friend and her trust means a lot to me."

"I understand that, and I would never ask you to betray her trust. But I'm at my wits end at ways to get through to her, to get her to open up to me." Benjamin leant forward slightly in his chair. "Does she ever talk about… _it_ with you?"

"No." Jesse shook his head. "I mean a little bit, when she wants to. But I've tried to broach the subject a few times, she just shuts down."

"I thought as much." Benjamin sighed. "At least she's involved in a group, how is the a cappella going."

"I think it's very good for her." Jesse chuckled dryly. "It's definitely given her…structure and…" Jesse paused, debating whether or not to mention Beca's slowly blossoming friendship with Chloe. "…well she's meeting a lot of new people." He finished, deciding that that qualified as too much information, and not something Beca would forgive him for sharing.

"I'm glad to hear it." Benjamin nodded. "I've heard good things about the Bella's captain, Aubrey Posen it sounds like she is the right person to keep Beca in check."

"She does that!" Jesse muttered.

"Do you think…she would consent to see me?" Benjamin's question was hesitant. "Could you talk to her, convince her to meet me?"

Jesse chewed his lip as he thought. "I can't promise anything." He said finally. "Beca won't appreciate it if she thinks I've gone behind her back, but I will try and talk to her."

"Thank you Jesse, I appreciate it. I won't keep you any longer." Benjamin pulled the paper he had been working on back towards him, a clear indication that the conversation was over, only nodding briefly as Jesse stood and left the office.

Jesse was still deep in thought when he reached the radio station to start his shift with Beca, pondering the ways he could broach the subject of her father.

"Hello! Anybody home?!" blinking in confusion Jesse focused on Beca's waggling fingers in front of his face, realising he had been staring into space for the last few minutes, hand raised in the air halfway to the shelf.

"Huh?"

"Jesus, what is up with you today?" Beca leant against the shelf next to him, a playful smirk pulling at her lips. "You're off in dreamland more than usual." Jesse pursed his lips as he worked out how he was going to tell her about his meeting.

"Your father asked to see me in his office earlier today."

 _Oh, looks like we're going with the blurting it straight out then._

Beca looked confused at his sudden outburst before her features rearranged themselves into a neutral expression. "What did he want?" she asked flatly, arms crossed over her chest.

"He wanted to know how you're doing." Jesse felt a little unnerved by her calm expression.0

"What did you tell him?"

"Just that you're ok. He wanted to know about a cappella as well, how that was going. Apparently he's heard good things about Aubrey."

"Of course he has!" Beca scoffed. "She's his vision of a perfect daughter!"

"He also wants to know if he can see you." Jesse moved the conversation on hurriedly before Beca could lock into her Aubrey ranting mode. As he suspected his words caused the words on Beca's tongue to die.

"He asked if I would speak to you about it." Jesse continued a little hesitantly moving away from the shelf and back to the table in the middle of the station. Beca's eyes narrowed suspiciously as she followed him and jumped up onto the table, the effect enhanced by her dark eyeliner.

"And…?" she left the question hanging, her tone dangerous. Jesse knew the next words out of his mouth had to be the right ones.

"I'm speaking to you now." He went with finally. "Look, I know it's not my place to say anything about this…"

"No it's not."

"Right, but he's really worried about you Becs," Jesse continued, "I know you're still pissed at him but I really think he wants to try and make amends."

Beca sighed heavily, glancing down at her feet before looking back up at her friend. The hostile look had faded from her eyes to be replaced by one of weariness that Jesse didn't like seeing in someone so young.

"I know he does." Beca sighed again. "I will speak to him, after Thanksgiving." Hopping off the table she disappeared back amongst the shelves, Jesse knew better than to follow her.

* * *

The week leading up to the Thanksgiving break was a busy one for Beca, her teachers had decided to pile on no fewer than four assignments all due for the same week and for the first time since she had started college Beca had had to turn down shifts at the radio station in order to get them done. Not for the first, or even hundredth time that year Beca found herself cursing her father's deal, Beca had never excelled at academics, not because she wasn't smart but because she never applied herself long enough to do well. Her mind was always preoccupied with other things, music mostly, the ideas swirled in her head, often eclipsing any academic studies she was supposed to be doing, much to the lasting despair of her father who couldn't understand how someone couldn't be interested in academia.

Bella's practices thankfully had finished a week before Thanksgiving, this was more because Aubrey was needed at home than her actually having any holiday spirit. Her expression when she had announced the previous weekend that this would be their last practice until after Thanksgiving showed exactly how disgusted she was by the idea of an extended break, the declaration spat through gritted teeth.

The Bella's had welcomed the news with exuberance, most talking excitedly about going home to see their families and friends back home. Much of the last practice was spent dissecting what everyone was going to do with their freedom, the only two people not joining in the conversations being Aubrey and Beca. It seemed for the first time since they had met the two enemies had common ground, neither was looking forward to going home.

Beca would be spending Thanksgiving with her mother, her father had offered way back at the beginning of the semester but she had said no before he had even had time to finish making the request. It wasn't that Beca wasn't looking forward to seeing her mother, she missed her a lot, but the idea of being back home left a sour taste in her mouth, too much had happened back there for Beca to ever feel comfortable. But she loved her mother too much to upset her by staying at Barden alone over the holidays.

Beca closed her suitcase, pushing down on the lid to compress the contents before zipping it shut. Heaving the suitcase off her bed she set it down by the door ready for her departure the next morning before flopping down in her chair in front of her laptop.

She had barely slipped her headphones over her ears and pulled up her latest mix when there was a soft knock at the door. Beca's hands stilled on the keyboard, shoulders slumping in frustration, she had been hoping to avoid interaction with anyone before she went home. Jesse had already left and her father knew better than to come to her room, that didn't leave many other options of who could be standing on the other side of the door.

Chloe beamed brightly as Beca wrenched the door open, she seemed unfazed by the usual scowl on Beca's face if anything it widened her smile. "Hi!"

"How do you know where my room is?!" Beca demanded bluntly.

"Your friend, Jesse, he told me before he left."

"When were you talking to Jesse?"

"I found him outside one of his classes to ask him."

"I'll tell Aubrey you've been fornicating with Treblemakers." Beca threatened, the words only caused Chloe to laugh.

"She would never believe you, she knows I would never do that." The redhead breezed past Beca into the room as she spoke.

"Please come on in." Beca grumbled under her breath, wondering not for the first time how it was she kept allowing Chloe to invade her personal space.

"Nice room." Chloe commented as she stood in the middle of the room, turning on the spot. "It's a little bit…bare."

"I don't like clutter." Beca responded, looking pointedly at Chloe hoping she would get the message that the brunette included her in that category at this particular moment. Chloe's eyes were now lingering on the laptop, which still had the music programme open. Beca saw ice blue eyes light up and knew exactly what Chloe was about to do.

In a surprising show of speed Beca darted across the room and planted herself in front of her laptop, the slight fall in Chloe's expression told her that she had predicted the other girl's actions correctly.

"Can I see what you're working on?" Chloe asked politely as if she hadn't just been planning to look without asking.

"No, it's not finished." Beca replied immediately. She didn't like showing people her work, especially when it was a work in progress. The only person who heard anything on a regular basis was Luke, and that was because he liked to know what was going to be aired in his radio station. "Why are you here?" Beca asked to try and distract Chloe from her laptop.

"I wanted to come and say goodbye to you before I went home." Chloe smiled. "You left the last practice so quickly I didn't get a chance too."

This was precisely the reason that Beca had left the practice as fast as she could, to avoid any long winded goodbyes. Beca hated goodbyes, mostly because like apologies she never knew what to say. That and the memory of her father's goodbye still tainted her mind whenever she thought about it.

"You didn't need to come all the way here to do that."

"I know!" Chloe said brightly. "But I wanted too."

"Have you been going to all the other girl's rooms to say goodbye?"

"No." Beca couldn't help but feel a warmth blossom in her stomach at the idea that Chloe had come specifically to see her.

"Where's your roommate?" Chloe looked around the room quizzically at the empty side of the room. "Has she gone home already?"

"I don't have a roommate." Beca grinned, thankful for the distraction.

"How did you manage that?!"

Beca shrugged, turning to her computer. "The day we moved in she walked in, took one look at me and walked straight out again. I guess she must have gone to student services and gotten them to move her and nobody else moved in."

"Clearly she'd heard about your reputation." Chloe snorted.

"Yeah," Beca nodded. "That and I slept with her last year and never called her." Beca shot Chloe a grin over her shoulder as she fiddled with her laptop, shutting down the music programme.

"You are so ridiculous!" Chloe threw her hands up in exasperation. "How do you do it to those poor girls?!"

"Those 'poor girls' know exactly what they're doing when they meet me, they've heard the stories and are usually the ones pursuing me." Beca leant back against her desk, regarding Chloe with a look bordering on smug.

"You're hopeless," the redhead tutted, looking round the room again. "Wait, if you have this room to yourself why haven't you made a double bed yet?"

It was Beca's turn to look around in confusion. "Why would I need a double bed?"

"More room." Chloe said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I don't need all that much room." Beca pointed out, gesturing to her slim physique.

"What happens when one of your conquests stays over?"

"Oh, we never come back here! And there is _definitely_ no staying over!" Beca shook her head as if the very idea was reprehensible.

"You're such a catch." Chloe deadpanned dryly, prompting Beca to laugh.

"I never claim to be."

"So you've never stayed over with _anyone_?" at Chloe's question a shadow passed over Beca's eyes, so fleeting that if the redhead hadn't been making eye contact when she asked she would have missed it.

"I don't stay." Was the brunette's reply, Chloe realised it hadn't really answered her question.

"Why not?" she pressed.

"There's no point, if you stay you have to deal with the awkward morning after talk where one person is inevitably like 'oh we should do this again sometime' and it's just weird and much easier to skip over it completely." Beca had moved away from her desk and perched on her bed, leaning back on her hands. "So when do you leave for home?" Beca wanted to deflect attention away from her nocturnal activities, more so because she always seemed to end up telling Chloe more than she intended too.

"In a couple of hours," Chloe settled down on the bed next to her, their thighs mere centimetres apart. "Are you staying here with your dad?"

"God no!" Beca scoffed. "I'm heading back to my mom's for a few days, I leave in the morning." She gestured to her suitcase by the door.

"Won't your dad be lonely?" Beca fought the urge to role her eyes.

"He's got the step-monster to keep him company." She chuckled.

"Who?"

"Shelia. His wife."

"Oh so she's your stepmom?" Beca's scowl returned at the last word.

"No, she's nothing to me." Chloe looked a little taken aback by the ferocity of Beca's tone, but knew better than to push the issue. She did place a comforting hand on the smaller girl's shoulder, feeling the tension running through her body. Beca stiffened briefly but after a few seconds she relaxed a little.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pried."

"It's fine. I just can't think of that woman in any capacity after the damage she's done to my family." Beca stood up, dislodging Chloe's hand from her shoulder and paced the room, the tension back in her shoulders. She didn't often think of the woman her father had married, she didn't like the wave of irrational anger that built up inside of her whenever she remembered the look on her mother's face when her father had told them that he was leaving them for Shelia. She especially did not want Chloe to see how affected she was by the mere mention of her stepmother's name, so she did what she always did. She changed the subject.

"You looking forward to being home?" Beca was not usually one to venture questions about people's personal lives but she figured the best way to get attention off of her personal life was to transfer it to Chloe's.

As she had hoped Chloe beamed at the question and actually bounced a little on the bed. "I really am!" she gushed. "I love being at home, especially around the holidays, everyone in my family loves being all festive."

"That does not surprise me at all." Beca snorted. "I can imagine nothing worse than a room full of bubbly holiday obsessed Beale's!"

"That was really mean!" Chloe pouted.

"I am mean," Beca retorted. "You should know this by now."

"I'll have you know that being in a room full of my family members is nothing short of awesome! You'll see it one day." Chloe rose off the bed and sauntered towards Beca, a smirk on her face.

Beca arched an eyebrow. "You seem very sure about that."

"Oh I am." Chloe's tone had turned playful as she drew closer, her hips swaying ever so slightly. Beca felt a small jolt in her stomach, her tongue coming out unconsciously to wet her lips as her eyes flickered down to the redhead's hips, mesmerised by the movement. "I told you, we're going to be fast friends. I think I could get you in a room with my family if I tried hard enough."

"There is nothing you could do that would get me to do that." Beca hated how dry her throat was, the words coming out a little hoarse.

"I'm sure I could find some incentive." Chloe purred, she was close now that her last words had been spoken in Beca's ear, breath ghosting over the brunette's neck causing a slight ripple to run through the smaller girl's body. Pulling her head back Chloe caught Beca's gaze and the startling blue of the other girl's eyes had Beca rooted to the spot, she couldn't move even if she wanted to. And in the back of her mind the voice reared its ugly head again, she could see it in Chloe's eyes, she was making no move to hide what she was feeling, it was all laid bare for Beca, raw and unfettered. Lust, excitement, and right there, innocence.

Beca's brain was saved from its inner turmoil by the buzzing of Chloe's phone, the taller girl glanced down, breaking the spell and allowing Beca to take a couple of hurried steps backwards, putting some much needed space between them.

"It's from Bree." Chloe spoke without looking up, already formulating a reply. "I need to leave, she's my ride to the airport and wants to have lunch before we go." Slipping her phone back into her back pocket Chloe looked up, the playful look had disappeared from her eyes and Beca was very grateful because it allowed her brain to get back to normal functions.

"Right yeah, well, I guess I'll see you next week."

"Yes you will. Have a great Thanksgiving Becs." Stepping forward again Chloe enveloped the smaller brunette in a bone crushing head, Beca's head squashed a little uncomfortably in the crook of Chloe's neck. Beca wrapped her arms loosely round the other girl's waist, squeezing gently. Beca had stopped hugging people when she was thirteen but she found that in the last two months hugging had apparently become something she did again, well, hugging Chloe was something she did.

Chloe pulled back after a full minute of hugging with a contented sigh that Beca couldn't help but smile at. Her smile froze as Chloe's lips pressed against her cheek in a lingering kiss. "Happy Thanksgiving." Chloe murmured against her skin, and then she was gone. Crossing over to the door with one last smile before disappearing.

Beca was left standing alone in the middle of her room, her mind a turmoil of emotions and Chloe's kiss still warm on her cheek.

"Thank god it's Thanksgiving."

* * *

"There's my girl!" Beca rolled her eyes as her mother's excited voice rose above the din of the arrivals terminal. Sarah Mitchell beamed at her daughter, pulling her into a brief one armed hug and pressing a kiss into her hair. "It's good to see that Atlanta hasn't been able to dim your cheery disposition." Beca's scowl became more pronounced at her mother's words causing her to laugh heartily.

Beca leant her head back against the headrest as the car pulled out of the airport car park and onto the road, sighing deeply she rolled her neck from side to side, attempting to work out some of the kinks that had built up over her flight. She could tell her mother was bursting with questions, but luckily she chose to wait until they got back to the house before she decided to unleash the, Sarah had always been more understanding than Benjamin of Beca's preference for silence.

"So how's this semester going?" her mother's first question didn't come until they were both sat around the breakfast bar in the kitchen, steaming mugs of tea warming their hands.

"Shit." Beca snorted into her tea, wincing as the scalding hot liquid burnt her tongue. "I thought I'd be out by now." She placed her mug back down on the table a little harder than necessary, betraying her frustrations. "He made me join a club!"

Sarah didn't have to as who _he_ was. "Look, Beca, God knows I don't agree with your father at the best of times. He's stubborn and oh so clueless, but I think that he's right to try and push you to do this." Beca looked up sharply, betrayal flashing in her eyes despite this not being the first or even tenth time they had had this conversation. "I know it's not what you want to be doing, I know you want to be out there in LA, 'paying your dues', but I can't afford to get you there and neither can you right now. Your father, as unfair as it is, is your best shot at getting out there, and you're getting a free college education to boot."

"I never asked for a free college education, I've never asked him for anything." Beca stared bitterly into her cup.

"I know you haven't, but he is trying Bec." Sarah's voice was gentle as she laid a hand over her daughters, trying not to feel too hurt when Beca pulled her hand away quickly.

"I don't want him to try. I don't want anything from him."

"I know you don't" Sarah sighed at the childish inflection in Beca's voice, sensing that she was starting to retreat. "Look, why don't you go and get settled, unpack and I'll make us some food."

Beca collapsed onto her bed with a heavy sigh, rubbing her eyes wearily. She hated travelling, it always left her feeling drained and irritable, well, more irritable than usual. Despite her fatigue she was glad to be away from Barden, there was only so much of the campus and the people there she could take. A break from Aubrey's strenuous cardio regime was a big plus, although Beca had a sneaky suspicion that the blonde captain wanted them to keep up the regime at home, which she was going to dutifully ignore. Beca fully intended to spend her time at home sitting down as much as possible, moving only for food and drink.

Beca had come upstairs with the intention to unpack, but now that she was lying down she could feel her eyelids growing heavy as the urge to nap grew stronger. She was just drifting off when her phone buzzed sharply against her thigh, supressing a sigh Beca retrieved her phone from her pocket.

 **Chloe [14:25]** _ **:**_ _Hope your flight went well and you got back ok!_

It appeared that Chloe was an emoji person, because there were no fewer than six different faces and pictures after the text. Including, for reasons known only to Chloe, a monkey covering its face with its paws. Usually the use of that many useless smiley faces would have annoyed Beca and she would have vowed to delete the offending people's number and never have any more contact with them, but for some reason with Chloe all she could muster was a slight tut and almost fond shake of her head. Whether this was down to genuine affection for the redhead or the realisation that deleting Chloe's number and not speaking to her would have literally zero effect Beca didn't know and she wasn't in a hurry to examine it either.

Sarah's voice drifted up the stairs, calling Beca down for food and breaking her train of thought. Shaking her head Beca tapped out a quick reply.

 **Beca [14:28]:** _I did thanks. You too._

Tossing her phone back onto her bed Beca headed for the door, hoping that her mother wasn't going to try and engage her in conversation about her father again, she was tired enough.

Sarah didn't try and broach the subject again until after dinner on Thanksgiving two days later. It had been a small affair, just the two of them, Sarah had never dated after Benjamin left, she couldn't bring herself to. Beca knew that despite hating him for leaving and betraying the two of them her mother would always love her father, effectively stopping her from being with anyone else. It was just another in a long list of reasons that had Beca to despise the man who was her father in name only.

"I'm to believe you've joined an a cappella group?" her mother's question caught Beca a little by surprise.

"Uh, yeah. How did you know?" Beca had avoided mentioned the Bella's in their sporadic phone calls.

"Your father told me."

"You're speaking to him!"

Sarah nodded. "On occasion. I need to know that my daughter is ok, god knows you don't tell me anything."

"I tell you what you need to know!" Beca bit back defensively.

"I don't just want to know the bare basics Bec, I want to know what's going on with you. I want to know when things are going well and when they're not. Why didn't you tell me about this group?"

"Because I didn't want to join it. I only did because of _his_ stupid deal!"

"I think it's a good thing, it'll help you meet some new people, get out of your own head for a change." Sarah reasoned. "What's the group like, are the other girls nice?"

"I guess some of them are ok." Beca shrugged, an image of Chloe flashing in front of her eyes before she could stop it. "The captain is a bit of a bitch though."

Sarah raised her eyes at Beca's profanity but didn't comment on it. "And the radio station, how are things going there?"

"They're fine, I've been doing some of the late night shows for Luke, he's letting me play my mixes."

"That's fantastic Beca!" Sarah grinned and reached over the table to squeeze Beca's hand. A smile stretched Beca's face for less than a second at her mother's praise. "It's a move in the right direction. I think college is really good for you."

Beca snorted. "I'm tolerating it until the end of the year and then I'm gone." Sarah couldn't help the hurt look that crossed her features at her daughter's hurry to get as far away as possible. Beca seemed to notice it and she sighed. "I don't mean it like that, you know I love you, but I need to be away from here, I need to be in LA. I can't…" she stopped and took a moment to compose herself. "…I can't stand this place, there's too much here. And Barden is just as bad, with dad and the step monster." She looked around the room and bit her lip, trying not to allow her emotions get the better of her.

"Beca…" Sarah wanted to reach over and comfort her, hold her, like she would have done when she was a little girl. But Beca had stopped responding to that a long time ago, her little girl had gone, and in her place was the closed off, angry young woman who sat opposite her. "I know it's difficult here, and it means so much to me that you came back, but the demons you have here will only stay as long as you let them."

"What do you mean?" Beca's eyes narrowed.

"You wrap yourself in the past like a blanket, and until you throw it off and let it go then you'll never be able to move past everything."

"You sound just like him." Beca said shortly, brows knitting in a scowl that had become all too familiar to her mother.

"Well, maybe if we're both saying the same thing you should listen." Sarah sighed. Beca gave a quiet snort in response, swigging from her beer bottle. "Please Beca, I know what you think of your father and trust me I do understand, but eventually you have to let go of that anger."

"I have."

"No you haven't. You're still angry at your father, you're angry at me, you're angry at yourself and…" Sarah hesitated. "…her."

Beca's head snapped up at her last word. "Mom." She warned.

"You don't wanna talk about it, I get it, but you refused to keep seeing the therapist and that's not healthy." Beca continued to glare across the table at her, but Sarah carried on. "You can't go through this life pushing everyone away, especially not after what you went through, it wasn't your fault…"

"Enough!" Beca was on her feet and yelling. "I can't deal with this right now."

"Then when can you?" Sarah pressed rising to her feet, her eyes pleaded with her daughter. "Please Bec, I only want to help you but I can't do that if you won't let me in. And your father too."

This was the last straw for Beca. "I am so done talking about this!" with one final glare she turned on her heel and left the room, grabbing her jacket on the way out. Her mother was left standing at the table, palms down on the wood and head bowed in silent defeat.

* * *

Beca stormed away from the house, hands thrust angrily in her pockets, palms clenching and unclenching against the material as she resisted the urge to throw a punch at the nearest hard object. She didn't have a destination in mind and allowed her feet to lead her where they would as she mumbled fiercely to herself.

She had expected this conversation ever since she had come home two days previously, it was a familiar argument and always panned out the same way, with Beca storming off. She knew that she was probably being unfair on her mother, none of what had happened had been her fault, and if anything it was only because of her that Beca got through it in the first place. But Beca couldn't open up the way her mother wanted her to, because she had spent so long locking away all of the negative and traumatising memories that talking about them would be opening the floodgates and Beca wasn't sure she was strong enough to deal with the fallout.

Beca had never liked opening up to people, she hated the vulnerable state that came with baring your soul to another person, no matter how close you were to them. Her mother was about the only exception to this rule but Beca's days of sharing with her had ended long ago, it wasn't that she didn't trust her, her mother was about the only person in the world that Beca _did_ trust. Beca just couldn't face the idea of ever being that vulnerable and scared again. She had done it before with someone.

And it had damn near killed her.

Predictably, Beca's feet led her to a bar, which, despite the holiday was full of drunken patrons. Beca realised she shouldn't have been too surprised, people came together to be with their families around the holidays, but a lot of people quickly realised that they didn't actually like their families, so they naturally turned to other things to make them happy, alcohol. Beca wondered how many people in the bar, like her, were there because of arguments. Small ones, big ones, some that meant nothing, and others that meant everything. Harsh words spoken in a moment of irrational anger that had the power to do irreparable damage, whilst others would be forgotten by morning.

Beca slipped through the crowds of people, ducking skilfully under the arm of one man who was brandishing a tray of shots like it was a trophy. By the time she reached the bar she was ready for a shot herself and with surprising ease was able to flag down the barmaid and order herself one along with a bottle of beer, she downed the shot immediately, a slight wince creasing her features as she chased it down with a swig of beer. Turning away from the bar she cast her eyes round the room, looking for somewhere to sit, not that there were many spaces. There were people everywhere, some talking, some laughing, and some sitting in the contemplative silence that only comes from too much alcohol.

She ended up standing in a small corner of the bar, watching as she sipped at her drink. The bar was loud and hot, a lingering scent of sweat hanging in the air that had Beca wrinkling her nose slightly whenever she took too deep a breath in. Most people were in high spirits, laughing and joking with each other, stumbling up to complete strangers and engaging them in conversation. Beca was lucky that the near permanent scowl on her face helped deter even the most festive of patrons, most people seemed to be giving her a wide berth, which suited her fine.

Her first beer went down quicker than she had expected, her mind preoccupied with the lingering reminder of the fight with her mother. The thought of the argument mixed with other memories, memories that always became so much stronger when she walked these streets. Images from her teenage years which she wished she could put away in a box and forget about, but the harder she tried the stronger they became.

Her mother's comments about holding onto the past had stung particularly fiercely, Beca was very aware of her own shortcomings, she just didn't like them being reminded of them.

Her bad mood even fouler, Beca drained the dregs of her beer and began pushing back towards the bar, desperate to get more alcohol in her system to try and numb the anger, remorse and sadness that were all fighting for attention inside her brain.

As she slammed her second empty shot glass down on the bar Beca felt a pair of eyes watching her, glancing upwards she found herself on the receiving end of a sly smile. The owner of the smile was a redheaded woman, hair curled in perfect ringlets down by her shoulders. Her face was thin and angled, with a sharp jawline, bright red lipstick in stark contrast to her pale skin and pale blue which regarded Beca with a lustful gaze. Her first thought was that the other woman's hair wasn't as bright or nice as Chloe's, her second thought was wondering why that was her first thought.

"What's a hot thing like you doing out by yourself on Thanksgiving?" the redhead purred, running the tip of her finger lazily round the rim of her glass.

"I could ask you the same thing." Beca replied, leaning casually against the bar and looking the woman up and down.

"I'm waiting."

"For what?"

The woman leant closer to Beca, a devilish smirk playing on her full lips. "An opportunity." Her voice was low and full of promise as it ghosted over Beca's cheek.

"Well, in that case, let me take this opportunity to buy you a drink." The redhead threw her head back and laughed, her right hand closing briefly around Beca's wrist, but not before her fingers had trailed against the soft skin. "Same again?"

"Please." Beca turned her attention back to the bar, a smirk of her own on her lips.

Her evening was looking up.

* * *

"Do you wanna get out of here?" at Beca's whispered question, the redhead chuckled against her lips, tongue flicking out to caress Beca's tongue.

"That's an opportunity I can't pass up." She replied huskily before taking Beca by the hand and pulling her out the door before she could say anything.

"Your place or mine?"

"Yours." Beca grunted as she all but ripped open the door to a taxi and allowed the other woman to slide in. The redhead quickly informed the driver where they were going before her lips were attached to Beca's again, surprising the brunette with her enthusiasm.

It was a short ride to the redhead's flat and before Beca knew what she was doing they were falling through the front door of the older woman's flat, lips and tongues moving together and hands roaming. Taking charge Beca slammed the redhead against the nearest wall, smiling at the moan the action produced, spurred on by the alcohol she dragged her lips down the redhead's jaw and throat as her hands deftly slipped unbuttoned her blouse. The garment was soon discarded, landing somewhere between the coffee table and the sofa, as the women moved away from the wall and into the bedroom, falling onto the bed heavily.

"Oh god!" the redhead arched her back as Beca's hands trailed down her body, followed closely by her lips. "Beca!" her voice was husky and thick with want. Beca couldn't remember when she had told the other woman her name, and she certainly didn't remember hearing a name in return, but none of that mattered with the alcohol coursing round her system as her lips passed over the woman's hipbone, biting the skin softly as she rid the redhead of her jeans, smiling when she saw the black lacy thong they revealed.

It was as she was starting to kiss back up the woman's body that she looked up and made eye contact with pale blue eyes and Beca was struck again by the thought that they weren't quite as blue, quite as electric as Chloe's, the woman's smile wasn't as bright, her face not as flawless.

 _Wait? What the fuck?!_

Beca froze, her mouth just above the redhead's stomach, mind reeling. Why was she thinking about Chloe? She had much better things to be concentrating on right now, so why couldn't she get the bubbly redhead's smile, and her bright eyes out of her head as she placed a couple of hesitant kisses against the pale skin of the other woman's stomach. Glancing up again she was met with the confused pale blue eyes, that morphed quickly into ice blue ones.

"Is everything ok?" Beca shook her head and sat back on her haunches, her drunken brain trying to process what was happening. "What's up?" the unnamed redhead pushed herself up onto her elbows, watching her curiously.

"Nothing…it's…nothing." Looking down at the half naked woman in front of her Beca came to an ugly realisation, the realisation that the only reason she had chosen to go home with this woman was because she had a passing resemblance to Chloe.

 _Well fuck._

"I have to go!" Beca stumbled over her words as she stumbled off the bed, hunting for her shoes which had been kicked off in the trip to the bed. Disgust welled up in her throat, heading for the door she threw it open, ignoring the confused calls of the redhead.

Almost falling out the front door of the apartment block Beca set off at a run up the road, desperate to put as much space between the flat and her as she could. She didn't stop running until her lungs were screaming for air and she was doubled over, hands steadying herself on her knees, breath coming out in ragged pants. Only when she could breathe properly did she look up and take stock of her surroundings, she was in the parkland that stretched near her house. She had spent many hours here playing as a child, climbing the trees, and then falling out of them, the fond memories almost brought a smile to her face. But then she remembered why she had been running and the almost smile vanished.

Still slightly out of breath Beca started to walk through the park, thankful for the clear air that was helping to penetrate the drunken fog in her brain. Taking deep lungful's of air, she closed her eyes and coming to a stop she allowed the cool night air to caress her cheeks, when she opened her eyes the world looked a little more in focus and her brain seemed to working at a more reasonable pace.

Sinking down onto the nearest park bench Beca contemplated the implications of the last hour, taking home a girl was nothing new. But Beca could never recall a time where she had left _before_ sex had taken place, that was a new, and unsettling development.

She hadn't meant to go home with the girl because she looked a little like Chloe, her subconscious had made that decision for her, a decision that she wasn't happy with. The bubbly a cappella girl had wormed her way into her head it seemed, and the thought of that brought a scowl to Beca's face and a cold sweat to her palms.

She was overreacting and she knew it, so what if she ended up going home with a girl who looked like Chloe? That shouldn't have stopped her from having sex with the woman, Chloe was an attractive girl and just happening to find someone who looked a little like Chloe and finding them attractive was no big deal. It shouldn't have phased Beca at all, let alone made her bolt from the room like some frightened rabbit.

It was the alcohol.

Beca greeted this train of thought with a firm nod of her head, it was the alcohol that had her freaking out, Chloe wasn't in her head in any way.

It was at that moment that her phone started ringing loudly, the tone piercing the quiet that had been allowing Beca to think. Pulling her phone out of her pocket Beca almost groaned out loud when she saw Chloe's name flashing on the screen.

"Figures." She muttered, contemplating not answering the call. Growling softly after a few seconds of indecision she hit the answer button and raised the phone to her ear.

"Hello."

"BECA!" Beca flinched and held the phone a few centimetres away from her ear as Chloe's loud voice almost deafened her. "Happy Thanksgiving!"

"Happy Thanksgiving." Beca's voice held no enthusiasm, but Chloe didn't seem to notice.

"Are you having a good time?" was Chloe's next question, the slight slurring of her words telling Beca just how drunk the redhead was.

"It's been ok."

"Just ok?! Why what's happened?" Beca's eyebrows raised in surprise, a half smile pulling at her lips when she realised that Chloe deemed an ok day to be a bad one.

"It's nothing. Just a fight with my mum that's all." Once again Beca blamed the alcohol as the reason that she told Chloe anything, carefully ignoring the fact that whenever she was sober she seemed to end up telling the redhead more than she wanted too.

"What about?" Chloe was shouting to get herself heard over the sounds of a raucous party that seemed to be happening around her.

"It was nothing big, just usual parent stuff." Beca brushed the question off. "What's going on?"

"Oh, it's the Beale Thanksgiving party!" Chloe giggled drunkenly. "Everyone is here! Say hi to Glen!"

"Who the hell is…"

"Glen! Say hi to Beca!"

"Hi Beca!" A man's voice, equally as slurred as Chloe's, and just as loud bellowed in Beca's ears and before she could even think about formulating a scathing reply he'd gone and Chloe was back on the line, laughing loudly.

"Did you say hi?!"

"Sure. Why have you called me Chloe?" Beca sighed, exasperatedly.

"Because I wanted to talk to you." Chloe's voice sounded a little hurt, and Beca felt bad.

"Right, well thanks. Have you had a good day?" For some reason she didn't like the idea of Chloe being upset and wanted to make up for it.

"It's been great!" Chloe's bubbly voice was back and Beca resisted the urge to roll her eyes at how quickly Chloe could bounce back to being happy, it was a mystery to Beca how someone could be that upbeat and happy all the time. She was lucky if she managed 5 smiles a day, and most of them were sarcastic. "We've had so much food, played games and had drink." Chloe lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "I'm a little drunk."

"No way!" Beca gasped in mock surprise. "I couldn't tell."

"Are you being sarcastic?"

"You got me." Chloe giggled and Beca bit her lip to stop herself from smiling at the sound, she didn't want to admit that hearing the redhead laugh often made her want to smile.

"I like you." Chloe's next words had Beca slowly releasing her lip from between her teeth, a confused frown creasing her brow.

"What?"

Chloe was silent for a second before she repeated her words. "I like you Beca, and I'm gonna learn all about you."

"Oookkayy." Beca didn't know what to make of the sudden change in conversation.

"I mean it, all that mystery, that, that moody façade, I'm gonna get past it." Chloe's voice had an assured confidence to it that had Beca arching an eyebrow.

"You are?"

"Yep." Chloe loudly popped the 'p' before letting out another drunken giggle. "It's going to be a challenge; your walls are so high Bec." She paused and when she spoke again her voice had taken on a husky tone that Beca couldn't deny was sexy as hell. "But I like a challenge, and I'm _very_ good at climbing, so get ready Bec because I promise that I will get over them."

Before Beca could say anything else there was a high pitched scream on the other end of the line, it sounded like a small child. Chloe garbled out a quick goodbye and hung up as Beca was still trying to process what had just happened.

Lowering her phone slowly from her ear, Beca let out a breath she didn't realise she had been holding in. Her conversations with Chloe always seemed to leave her either feeling confused, irritated, amused, or completely unsure how she felt at all. The most recent conversation had been confusing to say the least, mostly because Chloe was clearly drunk and Beca wasn't sure how much of it the other girl would remember in the morning.

There had been a moment at the end of the exchange however, when Chloe's voice had sounded clear and focused as she had promised to get over Beca's walls. The promise which had sent a slight shiver down Beca's spine, a shiver not unlike the one she had experienced in her second meeting with Chloe in the shower stall.

Chloe had made it her mission to get over Beca's defences, and Beca was sorely tempted to let her try.

The idea scared the shit out of her.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed that! Please do leave me a review letting me know what you thought! Until next time.**

 **Pirate-x-Girls**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey everyone, I wanted to get this chapter done as quickly as possible because I'm off to Germany for a week on Tuesday and will have no time to write when I'm away. This chapter has been the most fun to write and would have been the ending of the last chapter, I'm glad I decided to split them in two because this one became so much more than the few bullet points I had drafted out for it. The empty house and half a bottle of wine definitely helped the writing process quite a bit too! Thank you all to everyone who reviewed, favourited and followed the last chapter and enjoy this one!**

* * *

 **You Call Me A Bitch Like It's A Bad Thing**

 **Chapter 8**

"Do you mean to tell me," Aubrey's voice was low and dangerous, coldly surveying the gathered Bella's as they sunk lower into their chairs. "that not a single one of you has kept up your cardio regime whilst you've been at home?" The silence that hung in the air after her words was an admission of guilt in itself, Aubrey's eyes narrowed as she stared down each of the girls. Jessica gulped audibly under the serious gaze, Fat Amy looked only a little bit guilty, whilst Cynthia-Rose seemed very interested in the floor between her feet.

"Well," Stacie piped up. "I did quite a bit of cardio…it just wasn't running." Aubrey's eyes bulged a little out of her head at the leggy brunette's words. Beca couldn't help snorting from her usual position at the back of the group.

"Not what I meant." Aubrey hissed through gritted teeth. "I cannot believe that none of you have been taking my cardio seriously." From behind her Chloe cleared her throat gently. "Except you Chlo." Aubrey said quickly. Beca rolled her eyes as Chloe's face lit up in a self-satisfied smile that should have been smug, but still somehow came across as innocent and sweet.

"Seeing as all of you seem to have a blatant disregard for my rules, you can spend the first half of this _extended_ practice becoming reacquainted with them." A groan started to rise from the gathered girls, but a sharp look from Aubrey soon put a stop to it and the Bella's begrudgingly dragged themselves to their feet and headed towards the stairs.

"I'm gonna die!" Fat Amy moaned loudly.

"You've climbed three steps!" Stacie laughed as she completed her first lap, the blonde Australian stuck her foot out and in a surprising show of dexterity managed to trip the taller girl, sending her sprawling to the floor.

"Amy! Stacie! Stop fooling around!" Aubrey's voice thundered from below them by the whiteboard. Beca slowed her running to chuckle loudly as Stacie attempted to disentangle herself from the chair she had fallen on. "Beca you can stop slacking too!" Her chuckle quickly died at Aubrey's words, huffing angrily she sped up again.

She was on her fifth lap and starting to feel the burn in her calves when Chloe fell into step beside her smiling brightly. "You struggling there?"

"Fuck off." All the venom was sucked out of the profanity by Beca's out of breath panting, which caused Chloe to chuckle throatily.

"Can't you feel your body starting to feel better?" Chloe said as they lapped Fat Amy who appeared to just be walking whilst moving her arms back and forth in a poor imitation of running. "The air cleansing your body of all that alcohol and toxins."

"I swear to god Beale!" Beca growled, "I will shove you over."

"That would require you moving fast enough to catch me." Chloe smirked, quickening her pace she skipped out of the way of the half-hearted attempt by Beca to shove her. "And right now I don't think you're above a slow crawl."

"I hate you." Beca muttered.

"No you don't." Chloe laughed, the sound so light and carefree that Beca had to fight very hard not to smile.

"And you're one to talk about flushing alcohol out your body, I wasn't the one drunkenly rambling on the phone." Beca puffed.

"It wasn't rambling; it was adorable chatter." Chloe turned and jogged backwards, still somehow managing to go faster than Beca.

"Whatever you say."

"BECA!" Aubrey bellowed, a sharp blast of her whistle accompanying the shout.

"I'M RUNNING!" Beca bellowed back.

"Do it faster!" Aubrey snapped returning her attention back to the whiteboard. "Chloe stop distracting her!" Chloe flashed her best friend a smile, but didn't turn around.

"Why doesn't she have to run?" Beca pouted. "She's the slacker."

"I heard that! I've already been on an hour's run this morning which is why _I_ don't have to run." Aubrey didn't even turn from the board as she spoke.

"So have I." Chloe whispered to Beca as she fell back in step beside her.

"Why are you still running then?!"

"I enjoy it." Chloe beamed.

"You're so weird." Beca grumbled, needing to be away from Chloe she picked up the pace to move ahead of the redhead, ignoring the burn the motion caused in her calves.

* * *

Beca had sat on the park bench long after her phone conversation with Chloe had ended, until all the alcohol had left her system and she had finally been driven home by the cold wind. Slipping in through the back door she had made her way quietly upstairs to her room, only to be met by a slip of paper on her pillow that had two words written on it.

 _I'm sorry_

Beca had almost gone and woken her mother up, to apologise back and say she didn't mean her harsh words, but she only managed two steps towards the door before her resolve faltered and she had sunk back down on her bed, head in her hands, a heavy sigh escaping her lips. Once again she had chickened out.

The rest of her time at home had passed in tense silences, both mother and daughter unwilling to sour the holiday by bringing up old arguments. They had instead kept all conversation superficial, in neutral, safe territory. Beca's studies, the radio station and the Bella's all fell in that category, with all mention of Beca's father and her dreams to go to LA being left firmly out of the conversation. Her mother had been particularly interested in the Bella's and had asked all sorts of questions about the girl's, including if Beca was close to anyone.

"Mom, I'm not in elementary school anymore, I don't need to be making buddies with everyone." Beca had complained.

"You can make friends Beca, that's what being part of a team is about." Sarah's reply had caused Beca to roll her eyes.

"I suppose a few of the girls are alright, the co-captain, Chloe, is ok."

"Chloe, that's a nice name." Sarah had looked at her daughter with a knowing look. "Speaking of girl's is there anyone…special?" the question was meant as nonchalant as possible but Beca detected the hint of hope in her mother's voice.

"No, there isn't." Beca's reply came swiftly.

"Oh, ok." Sarah hadn't been able to keep the disappointment out of her tone, Beca had almost commented on it but had decided against it. That was another conversation that she was in no rush to have.

Sarah made no mention of Beca's father until the end of the holiday, as they were saying goodbye at the airport.

"Look Bec, I know you don't want to, and I respect your decision, but maybe." She paused and heaved a sigh as Beca looked to her, expression starting to darken. "Maybe you should give your dad a chance, god knows he doesn't deserve one but after everything that has happened the last few years, you need family around more than ever and maybe now is the time to try and hear him out."

A tense silence had followed her words and Sarah fully expected Beca to blow up and storm off, but her daughter had surprised her. She seemed to deflate, body sagging as she sighed heavily and ran a hand through her hair.

"I will try."

The three words had Sarah breathing a sigh of relief and pulling Beca to her in a fierce hug. "You can do it Beca," she had muttered into her daughter's hair. "You can open up Beca, if you find someone worth it."

Beca had pulled away to question her mother's last words but the announcement of her flight stopped her, muttering goodbye she pulled away and offered one last smile before she had disappeared through the security gate.

* * *

Her mother's last words at the airport had stayed with her since then, and as Aubrey called an end to the practice two hours later Beca slumped into a chair, wiping perspiration off her forehead with the back of her hand, deep in thought.

"Alright girl's, despite your lack of cardio that went better than I had expected!" Even Aubrey seemed surprised by her own unexpected praise.

"Does that mean we don't have to do cardio tomorrow?" Fat Amy asked hopefully.

"We will be doing extended cardio again tomorrow." Aubrey sniffed, prompting a loud groan from the Australian.

Beca packed up her things as quickly as she could, ignoring the conversation of the Bella's around her who were chatting excitedly about their plans for the evening ahead. She had been planning to get escape back to her dorm and spend a few hours mixing, hoping it would clear her head and calm her down enough to work up the nerve to go and speak to her father.

But the Bella's had other ideas.

"Beca! We're going for a drink!" Cynthia Rose beckoned her over where the group stood by the door.

"No thanks, not tonight guys!"

"Nope! _All_ of us are going." Fat Amy bounded over to Beca and grasping her upper arm began to drag her towards the door, ignoring the smaller brunette's struggles to get free. "Even el capitano is coming along." Sure enough Aubrey stood with the group, a sour look on her face that indicated that she was as unenthusiastic as Beca was about the idea.

"Really guys, I have tons of stuff to do tonight." She protested again, fighting Amy's grip on her arm, the attempt was futile, her protests falling on deaf ears as she was herded out of the practice room and off campus to a small bar.

Amy only let her go when she was sat down in a seat, and for a moment Beca seriously considered making a run for it, but one look at Fat Amy told her that the big Australian would have no problems in tackling her to the ground if she did. Crossing her arms and legs with a huff Beca scowled at the other girls, tapping her foot impatiently on the floor.

"Oh stop scowling, this is supposed to be fun!" Chloe's voice sounded by her ear as her hands clasped Beca's shoulders, squeezing affectionately.

"I'd have had more fun if you'd just let me go home." Beca grumbled.

"What so you could sit moodily in front of your computer for hours mixing songs?" Chloe hadn't moved, her breath still ghosting over Beca's ear.

"That's my idea of fun." She replied stubbornly. Chloe laughed, her slim fingers squeezing Beca's shoulders again as she moved to sit in the chair next to her.

"Luckily you have me to teach you about real fun." The redhead teased, laughing again when Beca made a show of rolling her eyes and huffing.

"Is that so?" the brunette's response dripped with sarcasm. "I can't wait."

Fat Amy chose that moment to come back with drinks, which she shoved in Chloe and Beca's hands. "What is this?" Beca asked taking a suspicious sniff of the brown liquid.

"Alcohol." Was the only answer Amy would give before she bounced away to do a shot with Stacie.

"Bottoms up." Beca muttered, clinking her glass against Chloe's and downing the drink, which, it turned out was a mix of a _lot_ of different spirits. "Oh my god!" Beca choked leaning forward as half of the drink got stuck in her throat.

"Well that has a bit of a kick to it." Chloe commented after taking a tentative sip of the drink.

"More like a bloody explosion." Beca was still coughing so Chloe leaned over and gently patted her back before rubbing a couple of soft soothing circles. "Err thanks." Beca finally stopped coughing and shot Chloe a tight smile moving slightly in her seat and dislodging Chloe's hand, telling herself it wasn't because the soft touches of the other girl's hands was sending tingles through her body.

"So you never replied to my texts." Chloe spoke up after a moment of silence, eyeing Beca curiously over the rim of her drink, which she still seemed to be sipping with little trouble.

In the days following their phone conversation Chloe had sent Beca a few texts, mostly just little updates about her day, some asking about how Beca was doing. Every single one had been opened, read and then ignored. Beca knew she was being rude but she couldn't bring herself to answer the texts, because she knew that if she did Chloe would climb a little bit higher up her walls, and with the drunken redhead's promise still fresh in her mind Beca wasn't sure she was ready for that.

"Err, yeah. I didn't really have my phone on me all that much over the holiday, spending time with my mum and all." She lied smoothly. The truth was that she had spent prolonged amounts of time with her phone in her hand, staring down at Chloe's messages, thumb hovering indecisively over the screen. Some of the messages had included photos of Chloe, sometimes with family members, sometimes on her own. There had been one photo sent the day after Thanksgiving of a _very_ hungover Chloe curled up in her bed, hair mused from sleep and wearing an oversized t-shirt that had been so adorable that Beca had had a reply typed out and ready to send before she had come to her senses and deleted it. But there was no way Beca was going to admit that to Chloe.

"That's ok!" Chloe replied brightly, no hint of offence in her tone or voice. "I was just a little worried that I'd scared you off after that phone call."

"I'm surprised you remember any of the phone call." Beca toyed with her glass as she spoke. "You were beyond drunk."

"Partying with my family tends to get a little out of control." Chloe shrugged. "And of course I remember the phone call! I remember all of our conversations." The words were spoken with such sincerity and accompanied by a smile so tender that Beca was taken aback. Chloe was being deadly serious, there was no hint of mirth in her expression, no teasing.

"Some have been more memorable than others." She responded finally, arching an eyebrow. A faint blush coloured Chloe's cheeks, indicating that the redhead had realised that Beca was referring to their encounter in the shower.

Chloe was about to reply, but the appearance of Aubrey next to her shoulder stopped the words before they could form.

"Chloe I need to speak to you about choreography."

"Can it wait a minute?"

"No." Chloe gave the smallest sigh at her friend's terse response and rose from her chair to follow her. She had gone little more than two steps before turning quickly and bending down so her mouth was next to Beca's ear, one hand steadying herself on the brunette's thigh.

"Just so you know, I meant everything I said." She murmured. "Every. Single. Word." On the last syllable Chloe's lips brushed against Beca's earlobe and the smaller girl couldn't hide the shiver that ran down her spine at the sensation. Chloe pulled back with a satisfied smirk, leaving an uncharacteristically flustered Beca to walk back to Aubrey who was regarding her with a confused frown.

"What was that all about?"

"Nothing." Chloe took another sip of her drink, aware of Aubrey's eyes still on her. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Aubrey clearly wasn't satisfied with her answer, but her desire to talk about the Bella's routine won out over her curiosity. "So the routine is getting better. But the one area we are still lacking in is the choreography."

Chloe's raised eyebrows at her last statement had the blonde backtracking fiercely. "I don't mean that as a slight on you! The choreography itself is perfectly fine. Certain individuals grasping of it however is not." Aubrey's eyes flickered briefly over to Beca, the motion indicating that the DJ was one of the 'individuals'.

Aubrey did have a point, the Bella's rehearsal earlier that day had been a marked improvement on previous ones. They were all finally singing in key and, for the most part, in time. Fat Amy had thrown herself into her solo with her usual gusto and from the looks of things it was gearing up to be something quite unique, as was only fitting for Amy. However, it seemed that a sense of rhythm was something that perhaps half the Bella's seemed to possess in an abundance. Stacie, Cynthia Rose and Denise had all grasped the pretty basic moves very quickly, even if Stacie had kept trying to add her own, more sexual touches too it, mostly her touching her own chest and crotch. Lily appeared to have it too, but Chloe could never tell if the Asian girl needed help or not because whenever she got within a few feet of her the small girl would hiss quietly, like an angry cat. Jessica and Ashley had some issues, but Chloe was confident they would be fine by regionals.

Fat Amy was a law unto herself, Chloe had given up trying to explain the moves and correct her, she had a rudimentary grasp of the routine and she could only hope that come regionals the exuberant Australian would at least _try_ and follow the dance.

That left Beca.

Chloe was in no doubt that the brunette could dance, she had seen Beca dancing with Stacie at the Trebles party so it was obvious that the brunette could at least move her body to music, and rather competently too. The problem was Beca's stubbornness, something that infuriated Aubrey no end, evidenced by the contemptuous glances she was now casting the brunette's way.

"You want me to do some one on one time with them?" Chloe's guess was confirmed by a brisk nod.

"During practice if possible, we'll cut back on cardio."

"The girl's will be pleased." Aubrey sniffed at her words, clearly not caring one bit about the Bella's clear hatred of cardio.

"I'm not doing it to please them, we need to get this right! If you can't get to them during practice organise some time before or after each session. I want it polished and perfect by Christmas."

"I'll get it done." Chloe promised, not fazed in the slightest by the quick deadline. She had known Aubrey long enough to be used to her tight schedules. "Try and enjoy your drink Bree." She gestured to the glass of wine that Aubrey was nursing. "Turn off that wonderful brain of yours." At Chloe's last statement Aubrey rolled her eyes, affection twinkling in them as she smiled at her best friend. It was a rare action, one usually only elicited by Chloe.

"I will try my best." Taking a dainty sip of her wine Aubrey moved onto another topic. "Now tell me, how are things going with Tom?"

Across the room Beca watched the two friends out of the corner of her eye, eyebrows raising slightly in surprise when Aubrey laughed loudly and slung an arm round Chloe's shoulder, pulling her close into her side. It seemed that the redhead had the uncanny ability to make anyone smile, even the stoic

bitchy faced captain of the Bella's, who openly showed her affection towards the bubbly co-captain. Beca didn't like giving the satisfaction of making her smiles outward, as Chloe tended to smirk in a very infuriating way whenever she caught Beca smiling at something she said, or after one of her over enthusiastic hugs. She hadn't quite decided if she wanted to punch the smirk of Chloe's face or kiss it off, both of these options would land Beca in all sorts of trouble so to save herself the bother she opted to scowl in these instances instead. This invariably led to Chloe smirking even more because apparently Beca's intimidating scowl didn't affect the redhead the same way it did everyone else.

She was pulled from her daydreaming about Chloe's laugh by the bodies settling down in the chairs on either side of her. Looking up Beca saw two of the quieter Bella's smiling at her. Jessica and Ashley, she had no idea which was which.

"We bought you a drink" Jessica of Ashley giggled, passing Beca another glass full of the strange dark liquid Amy had given her earlier. It appeared that the two girls had already sampled a lot more of the concoction if their giggles were anything and slightly shaky hands were anything to go by.

"Err, thanks." Beca shook her hand to rid it of some of the liquid that had spilled down the side of the glass. This was the first conversation she had had with the other two Bella's, not that it was really a conversation. The next five minutes were spent watching the two of them mutter to each other, with the occasional giggle fit and babbled questions to Beca that made a little to no sense. Beca nodded in what she hoped were the right places, even managing short answers to some of the more understandable questions, which mostly seemed to revolve around her radio show, and if Beca would consider playing more Taylor Swift.

The answer to that question had been a swift, resounding no.

Finally, Beca was able to excuse herself with the excuse that she needed the toilet, once in the solitude of the cubicle she released a heavy sigh of relief. Leaning her hand back against the door she wondered if there was any way she could slip away without any of the other Bella's noticing, she'd had enough socialising for one night and couldn't wait to be back in front of her computer.

Slipping out of the toilet a couple of minutes later Beca began to sidle as conspicuously as she could towards the door, eyes darting around the room looking for anyone who might try and intercept her. Fat Amy and Stacie were preoccupied at the bar with Cynthia Rose and Lily, it appeared that Lily was jabbing a knife down between her fingers on the bar with alarming speed and, whilst the other three girls cheered her on wildly. Jessica and Ashley were sat at a table with Aubrey sipping from glasses of water under the beady eye of the captain.

Chloe was the one Beca was most worried about, and as she made it to the door she spotted the redhead. She was deep in conversation with a guy at the bar who was hanging off her every word, his eyes wide and jaw open slightly, clearly too in awe of the beautiful girl in front of him to speak much. Chloe as usual seemed to have no idea of the effect she had on people and was chatting away brightly, gesturing with her hands. As Beca opened the door Chloe looked up, zeroing on Beca as if she knew she'd been there the whole time, the look in the other girl's eyes told Beca that she wanted to come over and stop Beca from leaving, but she was too polite to walk off in the middle of a conversation, no matter how one sided it was. Beca used this opportunity to make her escape, failing to miss the disappointed look that flashed across Chloe's face before her bright smile was back in place.

* * *

Beca awoke the next morning in a foul mood, her sleep had been plagued by nightmares which had led to a fitful sleep. On top of that she had been thinking a lot about her mother's suggestion to talk to her father and after a lot of deliberation had decided that today would be the day that she try and speak to him. The thought of it was causing Beca to stress out more and only served to worsen her mood to the point where she got irrationally angry when it took three attempts to get her sock on, resulting in the offending item to be chucked across the room, the fact that it feel only a couple of feet away from her serving to only anger her further.

She quickly came to the decision that she wasn't going to the Bella's practice that day, there was no way she was going to be able to deal with both her father and Aubrey within a few hours of each other. Sending off a quick text to Chloe feigning sickness Beca slumped back into bed, pulling the covers back up over her head, desperate to try and get some more sleep.

"So you're finally going to talk to him huh?" Jesse asked as the two of them walked across the quad. Beca grunted in response and chugged her coffee, hoping that it would wake her up. Sleep had not been forthcoming and Beca had begrudgingly decided that if she wasn't going to be able to sleep, she should at least try and make it to her class. The coffee that Jesse had bought for her had gone a little way to helping her fatigue.

"I think you're making the right decision." Jesse carried on. "I know it's gonna be tough, do you want me to be there with you?"

"No thanks," Beca adjusted the beanie on her head, shooting her friend a small smile. "but thank you for the offer."

"Anytime. Right Bumper's over there so I need to get going. We'll get together later and you can tell me how it went?" Beca nodded and Jesse jogged off to where Bumper was waiting for him, tutting and tapping his watch impatiently.

The walk to her father's office was a slow one, with Beca intentionally dragging her feet, trying to work out what she was going to say. It had been well over a month since the two of them had last spoken and the memory of their last conversation was still fresh in her mind. The image of her mother's pleading eyes gave her the push she needed to raise her hand and knock on the door, her father's voice sounding from within a few seconds later.

"Beca!" Benjamin's eyes widened in surprise as his daughter entered the room. "It's so good to see you!" rising from his chair he moved round the desk, arms spreading in preparation to embrace her. But the look in her eyes pulled him up short and he stopped a few feet away, arms falling uselessly by his side.

An awkward silence fell that both were acutely aware of, but unsure how to break. Beca shifted uncomfortably on her feet, dozens of different sentences rushing through her mind, although none seemed to make it out her mouth.

It was Benjamin who broke the silence.

"How have you been?" he asked tentatively. "It's good to see your face has healed well."

"I've been ok, busy with assignments." Beca replied, her hand coming up to trace the new scars above her eyebrow and on the bridge of her nose in answer to his second statement.

"I'm glad you've been taking your assignments seriously this year. I've been hearing better things from your professors."

Beca decided to ignore the fact that her father had been checking up on her, it was to be expected really he only ever seemed to take an increased interest in her life when academia was involved.

"How was Thanksgiving at home with your mother?" Benjamin seemed to realise his mistake with his last comment and moved swiftly onwards. "She said you had a good time."

"Yeah it was ok, it was quiet. Just the two of us." Beca replied, moving to lean against one of the tables that lined the wall. "I didn't realise you two were still speaking." It came out as an accusation, but Benjamin didn't flinch.

"Your mother worries about you and she asked me to keep her updated on how you're doing. I know you don't like it but if you won't talk tell her what's going on you can't expect her sit back and do nothing."

"Does _Shelia_ know about your little chats?" Beca spat out his wife's name as if it was a bad taste in her mouth. Benjamin's mouth tightened at her words, the only indication of his anger.

"She knows yes; I don't hide things from her."

"You just reserved that pleasure for us."

"Beca…"

"I didn't come here to fight." Beca interrupted him. "Mom asked me to talk to you, to try and make peace so that's what I'm doing. For her."

"Thank you Beca," Benjamin's features softened. "I know the last time we spoke wasn't under the best of circumstances and I didn't mean to lose my temper."

"I…probably should have tried to…control my temper better as well." It was the closest to an apology that he was going to get and Benjamin knew it. He knew better than to press for more and merely nodded at her words.

"I think we could both learn to try and keep them in check." Leaning back on his own desk Benjamin sighed. "I'm glad you decided to come by, I was going to come and find you in the next few days anyway. I've been chatting to your mother and we've both agreed on that, if you would like to, you could come and spend Christmas with me this year."

"Oh." Whatever Beca had been expecting him to say it hadn't been that and she was taken aback by the idea. "Err, I hadn't really thought about what I'm doing for Christmas, I'm not sure if it's the best idea."

"I know that it would be difficult, but I think if we want to move forward then we have to confront the difficult things and push through them. Shelia has agreed to it."

"I'm sure that was difficult for her." Beca muttered.

"Believe it or not Beca she would like for you two to be friends."

"No she doesn't dad, you just tell yourself that to try and make yourself feel better. She feels the same amount of contempt for me that I do for her."

"Beca." Benjamin warned. "That's not fair, Shelia has done her best with you."

"No she hasn't, you're just blind to it. What about mom? If I stay with you she'll be all on her won, because there's no way she'd come too."

"We've spoken about that as well, if you do agree to come. You mother will go and stay with her sister, and you won't be with me the entire time, you're welcome to go to her first and then again after New Year's."

"I guess you guys really did think of everything." Beca said sourly, arms crossing across her chest in a usual pattern of defiance. "Do I really have a choice?"

"Of course you have a choice Beca, I'm not going to force you to do anything. But it would mean a lot to me if you did decide to come."

He was looking at her so expectantly, his eyes so full of hope at this chance of redemption, it reminded her of the look her mother had worn at the airport and with an internal groan she knew that she couldn't turn him down. She didn't like it, but she would have to deal with it.

"Fine."

The single word was more than enough to send a large grin breaking out over Benjamin's face, involuntarily he moved a few steps forward as if to hug her again, but once again he pulled himself up, disguising the motion by sticking his hands in his pockets, eyes diverting briefly to the floor.

"Thank you Beca."

They fell back into silence, and Beca was just wondering when it was she would be allowed to leave when Benjamin spoke again.

"I'm so glad that you're working with me on this Beca, I know I've not been the best father, especially considering the accident." Beca stiffened at the word. "But I want to make it up to you, I want to show you that I can be the father you deserve."

"I'm not promising anything." Beca replied. "This is the start of a _very_ long road and I can't guarantee the ending is what you will want."

"I don't see why it can't be." Benjamin pressed immediately. "I know that things aren't ideal but there's no reason you can't move past this and forgive me."

"You don't get to decide if I forgive you or not." Beca growled, not liking the tone of his voice.

"This is your problem! You can't bring yourself to let go of anything, the past is important but you can't hold onto it forever!"

"Here we go again!"

* * *

Unbeknownst to father and daughter they were not alone.

Chloe had been on her way to see Dr Mitchell about one of her assignments when she had heard raised voices. Her pace slowed as she neared the door, recognising the louder of the two voices as Beca's.

"I can't keep doing this with you, I've agreed to go to your and the step monsters for Christmas what more do you want."

"Don't call her that!" Dr Mitchell snapped. "And what do I want? I want you to speak to someone! You won't talk to me, you won't talk to your mother, there must be someone, anyone, who you can open up to."

"I have no need to open up to anyone." Beca's voice was becoming low and dangerous.

"I know it's hard after what happened with…"

"Don't you _dare_ say her name."

Chloe heard footsteps advancing rapidly towards the door and tried to backpedal. Unfortunately, she wasn't quick enough, the door was wrenched open and she was confronted by a very angry Beca, her eyes flashing dangerously. When she saw Chloe the brunette's expression darkened, something that Chloe didn't think was possible.

"Of course _you're_ here!" Beca spat before pushing roughly past Chloe and stomping off up the corridor.

"Beca! Wait!" Chloe sent an apologetic look at Dr Mitchell's way, who was standing in the middle of the office, looking a little stunned. "I'll be right back." Chloe promised before running off up the corridor after Beca.

It didn't take long to catch up with Beca, the smaller girl was seething and at the sound of Chloe's footsteps she whirled round. "What the hell were you doing?!" she yelled.

"I swear I didn't mean to eavesdrop!" Beca scoffed and threw her hands up in the air.

"Course you didn't!" her voice echoed round the corridor causing the professor who was walking to their office to shoot the two of them a frustrated look.

"Maybe you should lower your voice."

"Maybe I don't WANT to lower my voic…." Beca was cut off as Chloe grabbed her arm and yanked her into an empty room, slamming the door shut behind her.

"I thought you were supposed to be sick." Chloe jumped in before Beca could start shouting at her again, hands planted on her hips.

"I am sick." Beca retorted. "Sick and tired of people butting into my life!"

"Sounds terrible, maybe you should see a doctor about it." Chloe deadpanned, rolling her eyes in an uncharacteristic way.

"Sarcasm is not your friend Chloe." Beca began to pace the room. "What exactly did you hear?"

"Nothing." Chloe was quick to respond; truth be told she didn't know what to make of what she had heard. "But, you know, if you do ever need someone to talk to Beca, about anything, or about…anyone. You know you can always come and talk to me."

"What?"

Chloe knew from Beca's tone that she had said the wrong thing.

"So you just think because you eavesdropped on the end of a conversation, talking about things you know _nothing_ about that you can just offer me what? A shoulder to cry on?!" Beca was yelling again, pacing up and down, arms gesturing wildly.

"I was just offering to help, why is that such a bad thing?" Chloe asked calmly, determined not to let her emotions rise with Beca's.

"Because I never asked for it!" Beca turned mid step. "Cast your mind back, since we met each other have I ever asked you for anything? Have I expressly asked for your help at ALL?!"

"No, but you don't have to. Beca. I can see that you're carrying something around with you, and it's weighing you down." Chloe took a step towards the brunette, her eyes pleading with her. "And I'm not claiming that I can fix your problems but I want to help."

"I don't want you help! I don't want anything from you, I don't want anything from anyone!" Beca bellowed. "Why can't you get that into your head? It doesn't matter how much you nag me, or follow me around or try and be my best friend, it is NOT going to work."

"Why do you have to shut everyone out!" Chloe's anger that had been rising for the last couple of minutes was bubbling dangerously close to the surface. "What makes you so special that you get to treat everyone around you like crap!"

"Because I don't care, if you think I treat you like crap why do you keep coming back?" Beca sneered, taking another step forward so that she was less than three feet away from Chloe.

"Because I know there's more to you, and this is all just an act to stop people from getting too close."

"Give it a fucking break Chloe! The nice girl routine is getting really fucking boring, what the hell are you trying to prove by being nice to everyone?" Chloe took a deep breath, willing herself not to react to Beca's words, but the brunette's next words put a stop to that resolve quickly. "You just can't seem to face that you're everyone's doormat, that being nice is all you have, so you bury yourself in other people's business to forget how pathetic that is."

Chloe glared stonily at the smaller girl, feeling for the first time since they had met a rush of genuine fury at her.

"You really are a bitch." She hissed.

"That's what they say." Beca replied stonily.

It happens so fast that neither are sure who moves first, all they know is that one second they're glaring at each other and the next their lips are fused together, Beca's hand tangled in Chloe's hair whilst the redhead's gripped the back of Beca's neck tightly. It was angry and sloppy, with tongue's and teeth clashing clumsily, but its passionate and the very air between them seems to crackle with electricity. Beca's hand tightened in Chloe's hair, pulling the taller girl none too roughly to her so their bodies were pressed flush together.

Both girls moaned loudly at the contact. Chloe's moan deepened as Beca bit down harshly on her lower lip, almost hard enough to draw blood, the sharp pain was quickly soothed by a sweep of Beca's tongue. Beca hummed into the redhead's mouth as Chloe's fingers dug sharply into her hips, tugging her impossibly closer.

Control over the kiss fluctuated between the two girl's, both so fuelled by their anger sexual tension, both unwilling to give an inch. Chloe raked her fingers down Beca's back, over her shirt, smirking as a small gasp escaped the smaller girl's lips. Beca responded in kind by slamming Chloe against the nearest wall, pinning the redhead's hands against the wall with one hand, the motion allowing the other one to trail down Chloe's torso, ghosting over a breast with a feather light touch but not enough to be satisfactory.

Chloe struggled half-heartedly against her restraint as Beca's tongue moved against her own, a faint whine slipped out of her mouth and into the kiss as Beca's right hand toyed with the waistband of her jeans, fingertips brushing heated skin.

As quickly as it started it's over. Both seem to come to their senses at the same time, Beca jumping back as if burned, right as Chloe regained the use of her hands and shoved Beca's shoulders lightly, desperate to put distance between the two of them. The glares were back, chests heaving as the aftermath of the kiss still rushed through the bloodstreams of the two Bella's, Beca tried not to think about how Chloe's heavy pants were pushing her chest out against the buttons of her shirt. Chloe was trying not to think about how Beca's hands had felt, albeit so briefly, against her skin, and what she would give to feel more contact, she ached for it.

"What the fuck was that?!" Beca seemed to have found her voice, it came out as a low croak, vocal chords struggling to work.

"That was a kiss."

"I know it was a kiss! That shouldn't have happened!" Beca took a step backwards, shaking her head fiercely.

"It was a good way to stop that argument." Chloe smirked, hoping the levity would help lighten Beca's mood.

It did not.

Beca's head snapped up, her eyes blazing again. "This!" she gestured between them, eyes flicking subconsciously down to Chloe's still strained shirt. "Doesn't change anything!" and before Chloe had a chance to respond she was gone, blowing past Chloe in a whirlwind of motion that left the redhead standing stunned in an empty room, the memory of the kiss still burning her lips and the arousal it had caused racing through her body, competing with the red hot rage.

"Fucking hell!" she growled into the silence.

* * *

The door of Aubrey and Chloe's shared apartment crashed open so violently that Aubrey squealed from her position on the sofa. Once she had gotten her breath back she looked up to see her best friend pacing the living room, an anger in her expression that Aubrey had never seen before.

"Chloe!" she gasped. "What the hell is wrong?!"

"That. Girl!" Chloe gnashed, not looking at Aubrey. "She is so…UGHH!" Chloe's hands were moving wildly, palms clenching and unclenching.

It didn't take a genius to work out who she was talking about it.

"Could it be? Has Chloe Beale finally found nothing good to say about Beca Mitchell." Aubrey couldn't keep the mocking tone from her voice as she rose from the sofa.

"Not funny Bree." Chloe muttered darkly, coming to a stop finally and looking at her for the first time.

"What happened?"

"We just…" Chloe stopped herself from giving away exactly what had just transpired between her and Beca. "…argued." She finished. "It wasn't pretty."

"Arguing never is Chloe." Aubrey snorted. "I tried to tell you, Beca cannot be worked with, she cannot be reasoned with."

"It's not that." Chloe said, her voice calming a little. "I did provoke her I guess."

"Then why so angry?" Aubrey arched an eyebrow.

"Because!" Chloe's hands had flown into the air again, unable to express the inner turmoil she was battling with.

"Face it Chloe, Beca isn't a nice person, and if she can make _you_ this angry then it just proves it."

"It's not like that really. Beca can be nice, it's just buried deep beneath a lot of layers." Chloe didn't know why she was rushing to Beca's defence, especially after the way the brunette had spoken to her that day. But the memory of the kiss quickly reminded her. "She's different Bree, and she can be so infuriating and downright horrible…but there's something else there, I really think there is."

Aubrey watched her best friend with narrowed eyes, the cogs in her brain turning. Chloe's face didn't know what to do with itself, alternating between darkened anger and a dreamy expression, eyes glossing over as if caught in a memory. It was a look that Aubrey had never seen before and she didn't like it one bit. Aubrey had a quick tactical mind, trained to piece things together, and the pieces were coming together very quickly for her now. The jumps between irrational anger and defence, the slightly dreamy look, Aubrey had figured it out.

Chloe Beale _liked_ Beca Mitchell.

* * *

 **Well? What do we think? Good first kiss, bad first kiss? Now that it's happened things are going to start moving forward, but it's not going to be easy for our two favourite ladies, they have a long tough road ahead. I do hope you all enjoyed that, like I said it was a blast to write and I hope it was fun to read. Please leave me a review letting me know what you thought, I think a kiss for reviews is a fair trade off aha. This chapter is being posted at 2AM I was that desperate to get it to you guys so I'm sorry if there are any mistakes. Right now I'm off to bed! Until next time!**

 **Pirate-x-Girls**


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry this update has taken so long! I meant to have this finished a couple of weeks ago, but work got super stressful and I had to travel up to Scotland. Thank you all for the wonderful response to the last chapter, I'm glad people reacted well to the kiss it was a joy to write! I won't prattle on for too long here, all I'll say is I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

 **You Call Me A Bitch Like It's A Bad Thing**

 **Chapter 9**

Beca growled loudly in frustration, teeth gnashing together as she glared contemptuously at her laptop screen. Reaching up she roughly pulled her headphones off and tossed them down onto the keyboard, hard enough to vent her growing frustration but not hard enough to cause any real damage to headphones or computer. Rising to her feet she stretched, muscles groaning at the movement after hours of being cramped in one position in front of the computer.

She had been working on the same mix for hours now, no scratch that, she had been working on the same _ten seconds_ of a mix for hours, she had lost count how many. It seemed no matter what she did the mix just didn't sound right, and even working the song with hundreds of different combinations didn't seem to work.

She knew that if she was being completely honest with herself she could admit that the mix wasn't working because she couldn't concentrate long enough to get anything done, her memory distracting her with inappropriate flashbacks, leading to her usually fluid process of mixing to become a chore. Beca's precision and ability to focus solely on one thing to the detriment of all else was one of the things that made her so gifted musically, or anything else she put her mind to for that matter. But today she hadn't been able to focus for more than a few minutes at a time, resulting in a very frustrating mess of a mix. For someone as musically expressive as Beca the inability to be able to convey what she wanted in her mix was just about the worst thing in the world.

Every time Beca thought she was making progress her mind would flash back to the feeling of her hands tangled in Chloe's hair, body pressed tightly against the taller girl's whilst she claimed the redhead's lips in a kiss as fiery as her hair. The moan that Chloe had made as Beca had slammed her into the wall had without fail sent a jolt of arousal through her body, making concentrating on anything other than getting off an almost impossible task.

Needless to say these frequent and distracting thoughts were making Beca _very_ unproductive.

And incredibly turned on.

It had been a week.

A week since the kiss that Beca wished she could forget and relive all at the same time. Beca didn't know how one single kiss could make her feel both so aroused, and so angry at the same time, although given that the other person involved was Chloe she realised she shouldn't have been too surprised. Even now at the thought of the argument that had preceded the kiss Beca still felt the white hot flash of irrational anger towards Chloe, she didn't know what the other girl had heard but in her opinion anything was too much. Beca didn't like people seeing her weaknesses, and her latest altercation with her dad had definitely been a display of weakness.

It seemed that irrational anger defined a large part of her relationship with Chloe, the redhead always seemed to be right where Beca didn't want her, always there. Beca wasn't used to people taking an interest in her life, unless they were looking for something from her, and definitely not in the way that Chloe did. The other girl seemed to genuinely care about Beca's wellbeing in a way that very few other people had ever done. Her method of invading Beca's personal space in every way possible, testing her defences again and again was something that the small DJ had no experience with.

She had no idea how to react to it.

So she reacted in the only way she knew how, anger.

There was of course the other, very glaring emotion that Beca felt towards the redhead. Arousal. The one kiss with Chloe had been charged with more sexual tension and passion than many of the sexual encounters that Beca had had over the last couple of years. Her mind couldn't help but wonder if a kiss was that sexually charged, what would it feel like to have Chloe naked underneath her, writhing as Beca's mouth and hands explored every inch of her body.

Beca had these thoughts more often than she would like to admit, and would have to drag herself away from them lest she spend hours daydreaming. She didn't like how much her thoughts had been dominated by the bubbly redhead and the kiss that shouldn't have happened, the kiss that had set every inch of Beca's body on fire with a passion she didn't know she possessed.

Pacing the room Beca let out another growl, it had been a very long time since one girl had dominated her thoughts and harkened back to a past that Beca wished every day she could escape. She did not intend to let this current trend continue. She needed to do something to get Chloe Beale out of her head.

If it had been anyone else she would have just avoided them, but that wasn't an option with the daily Bella's practices forcing Beca to spend up to four hours a day trapped in a room with Chloe. Watching the redhead sing, lips forming words in a way that shouldn't have been sensual but really was only served as a further reminder of what those lips had felt like against her own.

They hadn't spoken a word to each other since the argument. Beca was in no hurry to talk about what had happened, and surprisingly it seemed that neither was Chloe. The redhead had kept her distance from Beca, choosing to have little to no interaction with her at all, perhaps sensing that bringing up the argument and the kiss would be pointless, even if she wanted to. There were times however when Beca would catch Chloe watching her, an unfathomable expression in her piercing eyes.

The loud buzzing of her phone pulled Beca from her thoughts, snatching it off the desk she opened the new message from Jesse, reminding her that she had promised him a movie night that evening. It was as she was trying to think of a good excuse to get out of it that she noticed the time.

"Fuck!"

Bella's practice had started five minutes ago.

* * *

"Late _again_ Beca?" there was a hint of smugness on Aubrey's tone as Beca sidled into the practice as inconspicuously as she could.

"Yeah, sorry Aubrey. I got held up in class."

"It's a Saturday."

The smirk on Aubrey's face grew as Beca cursed internally.

"Bollocks." The muttered curse luckily went unheard by the captain who was relishing in deciding Beca's punishment.

"I think some running will…"

"Actually Aubrey, I need to work with Beca on choreography." Chloe's interruption came as a surprise to both Aubrey and Beca, the redhead had taken something of a backseat the last few weeks, preferring to keep her thoughts to herself.

"It's the middle of a session." Aubrey protested, not happy that her opportunity to make Beca run was being ruined.

"You were going to make her miss more practice by running." Chloe pointed out. "Surely her time will be better spent getting the choreography perfect like you want it." Even Aubrey couldn't argue with that logic, and with a reluctant nod released Beca, turning her attention back to the other Bella's with an angry bark.

Beca followed Chloe to a spot away from the rest of the girls, where they could concentrate in peace, although Aubrey's loud commands could still be heard all too clearly. "Thanks for that." Beca muttered, stripping off her jacket and allowing it to drop to the floor.

"No problem." Chloe smiled brightly, the first proper smile Beca had seen on her in a week, the sight prompted a small flush of guilt. However angry she had been at Chloe following their altercation even she could admit that there was something fundamentally wrong with the world when Chloe Beale wasn't smiling. "Although we really do need to work on your choreography."

"I'm not that bad!" Beca bristled, she didn't like being told she was bad at things, it prompted her defence mechanism.

"You're not _bad_ per say." Chloe pulled the light jumped she had been wearing off over her hair, leaving her in a tank top that afforded Beca a very pleasant view of the toned muscles of her arm. The brunette found herself a little distracted as Chloe stretched, causing the muscles to flex and pull taut. "But you are stubborn and lazy." Chloe carried on, the slight smirk pulling at her lips showing she had seen where Beca was looking.

Beca scowled at Chloe's words, but with a shrug conceded that the other girl was right, but not before giving a low growl and turning away, she didn't fail to miss the wider smirk that passed across Chloe's face at her actions.

A tense silence fell over the two, both aware of the elephant in the room, but neither willing to be the first to discuss it. The memory of the kiss hung between them, eyes flitting down to lips and away again quickly, half spoken words on the tips of their tongues but never quite coming forth.

Beca was the first to speak, still not sure what it is she wanted to say, just anything that would break the tension that hung thick in the air.

"Listen, about last week…"

"Don't." Chloe cut her off, not unkindly. "Save the badly worded apology I know is coming. If I only get the one you should save it for something bigger. I have a feeling you'll need it." the words were said as if there was something that Chloe knew that Beca didn't, a promise of things to come. There was a look in Chloe's eyes as she spoke, it seemed to pierce right through Beca's very being, leaving her defences weakened. Beca was torn, as she often was around Chloe, between wanting to see more of the look, and the promises it contained, whilst at the same time never wanting to see it again. She feared that she would give Chloe anything she asked for when she looked at her like that, and that made it dangerous.

"You've had your one apology already."

"No. We agreed I'd get another one." Chloe corrected her.

Beca scoffed. "You agreed that, not me."

"We both agreed." The look was back, stronger this time and Beca felt like a fog had descended on her brain pushing down all rational thought and narrowing the world until all she could see was Chloe.

Yes, the _look_ was definitely dangerous.

Shaking her head Beca cleared the spell, knowing that she had been seconds away from kissing Chloe again, consequences be damned. "Fine, you get one more." She muttered as she turned away from Chloe not being able to look her in the eye. "We should get on with it."

Chloe nodded. "Right let's just run through it."

They started with Chloe humming the songs, fingers clicking to the beat as Beca ran through the routine with her usual lacklustre approach.

"At least _try_ and look like you're enjoying yourself." Chloe tutted after the third try, her voice contained no hint of annoyance, only a calm patience laced with soft amusement.

"But I'm not." Beca grumbled.

"Come on, again!" Chloe began humming again, cutting off any more complaining from the brunette, but this time she stepped up close behind Beca, taking the smaller girl by surprise. Out of habit Beca flinched at the contact, but after a few seconds of Chloe's warmth she found herself relaxing, memories flashing in her head of the last time she had had the redhead pressed this close to her. Chloe's hands slid down her arms fingertips leaving goose bumps in their wake, gently helping to guide Beca's movements. The sound of Chloe's humming right by Beca's ear sent tingles down her spine and she swallowed, hard, trying to concentrate on the choreography and not the sensation of Chloe's breath ghosting over the back of her neck, or the fact that she could feel Chloe's heartbeat against her back, or that the taller girl smelt like strawberries and summer.

"That's really good. I think you're getting the hang of it." Chloe murmured in her ear, her body shifting forwards so she was pressed fully against Beca's back. The brunette couldn't help the slight gasp that left her lips at the contact.

"I guess you're a good teacher." She replied.

"Why thank you." Beca knew Chloe was smiling, she could feel it against the skin of her neck where Chloe's lips were now resting gently. The words were accompanied by a small kiss, soft and short enough to hardly count but deliberate enough to send fire blossoming from the spot and round Beca's blood.

Her hands faltered and she felt Chloe smirk again, Beca decided in that moment that she could not let the redhead get the upper hand _again_ and reacted without thinking. Taking advantage of their close proximity Beca gave a subtle, but deliberate roll of her hips back against Chloe.

The effect was instantaneous.

Chloe's smirk vanished, her mouth forming an 'o' against Beca's shoulder, accompanied by a sharp intake of breath and her fingers clenching tighter round Beca's hands. Now it was Beca's turn to smirk, rolling her hips back again she took no small satisfaction in another soft gasp from the beautiful redhead behind her.

Chloe's hands fell away from Beca's, dropping immediately to her hips. Fingers dug almost painfully into Beca's skin as she resumed humming, albeit a little shakily. Beca kept on running through the routine, with considerably more enthusiasm than any previous attempts.

"If I'd have known that this is all it took to get you to dance properly then I'd have done it ages ago." It appeared that Chloe didn't like not being in control either if the seductive lilt to her voice and tightening of her hands on Beca's hips were anything to go by. Beca sucked in a breath at the words, which threw up all sorts of tantalizing images. All she need to do was turn and connect their lips and…

Both girls seemed to realise two things at the same time. First, they were dangerously close to being in a _very_ compromising position, if anyone looked over now it would merely look like Chloe was guiding Beca's movements, but both Bella's knew that they were seconds away from things becoming decidedly less innocent and definitely not suitable for public.

The second thought that occurred a second after the first was that they were supposed to be angry at each other, the fallout from their argument still festered in both of them but had been momentarily overruled by the palpable sexual tension that seemed to walk hand in hand with that anger.

Both moved at the same time, Beca stepping forward, and Chloe stepped backwards.

"Right, well I think you're getting the hang of it." Chloe's voice is perhaps a little louder than necessary, her face slightly flushed and breathing still a little erratic. Beca merely grunted in response, she was too busy working to get her libido under control to trust herself to form words.

Now there was a distance between them the fog had cleared from Beca's brain, allowing normal functions to resume, including a fresh surge of anger. Her usual scowl darkened her face and she noted a slight frown creased between Chloe's eyes as well, as if she wasn't sure what to feel.

"We can pick this up again another time, we should join the others." Chloe cleared her throat and was already moving towards the other Bella's as she spoke. Beca followed a few steps behind, scuffing her feet along the floor as she attempted to gain full control of her emotions again.

There was no doubt about it, Chloe Beale had done it again. Just like in the shower, at Hood Night, the bar and their kiss the week before, she had wormed her way further past Beca's defences than anyone, leaving the brunette feeling more exposed than she had in a very long time. Beca had become very good at reading girl's and predicting their reactions, it was how she had managed to avoid some of the crazier girl's, but with Chloe it seemed like an impossible task. Beca never knew if she was in control or not and Chloe didn't seem to want to play by the rules. She seemed to have an effect on Beca that no one else did.

And Beca hated her for it.

She re-joined the Bella's with renewed determination. She was going out tonight, and she was going to get Chloe Beale out of her head.

* * *

Unbeknownst to both Beca and Chloe, their little moment had not gone unnoticed.

Aubrey Posen wasn't sure what she was looking at. On the surface it seemed to be a perfectly innocent sight. Chloe helping Beca with the choreography, like she had at one point or another with all the girls. The fact that the redhead was standing very close to the smaller girl as she directed her movements was not suspicious in itself, Chloe was the most affectionate person that Aubrey knew. A day was not complete for Chloe unless she had hugged at least five different people.

What was suspicious was that Beca seemed to be tolerating the contact a lot more than usual, past attempts to physically correct Beca's choreography had been met with heavy scowls and a quick retreat. Not only was Beca tolerating Chloe's close proximity, she was _enjoying_ it! This shouldn't have come as too much of a surprise, Aubrey knew Beca enjoyed being up close and personal with attractive girl's, she had seen Beca dancing with Stacie at the riff-off after party, a sight which had set a fiery jealous rage burning in the pit of her stomach for reasons which the Bella's captain was stoically ignoring.

Aubrey's attention was drawn back to the Bella's by a sharp cry of pain, it appeared that Fat Amy's exuberant practices for her solo had somehow led to Cynthia Rose being accidently punched in the face. By the time Aubrey had reinstated order and was able to look back to Beca and Chloe they had separated and were making their way back over to the group. Beca had a scowl on her face, nothing unusual there then, but Aubrey's eyes narrowed as she saw that her best friend looked a little pink and flustered.

Aubrey wasn't sure exactly what it was she had seen, but what she did know was that it was _something_. Since Chloe's rant the week before she had been keeping an eye on both her best friend and Beca, neither had had any contact, in fact it seemed to Aubrey that the pair were actually going out of their way to ignore each other

Except for the glances.

The glances they shot each other whenever the other wasn't looking. Aubrey's suspicions had increased with every cryptic look; the dynamic had changed. Something more than an argument had taken place between Chloe and the small DJ.

Aubrey was determined to find out what it was.

* * *

The music is loud, the lights are low and there are women everywhere. Beca felt her body relax and a smile pull at her lips as she sipped her drink, eyes roving around the bar. The tension of the day, and indeed the week melted away from her as the whiskey she was drinking spread through her blood stream.

"There are so many lesbians!" the voice from next to her killed some of her buzz and with a sigh she turned an irritated glance to Jesse who was standing next to her, sipping his own beer and looking a little dejected.

"Well it is a _lesbian_ bar." Beca pointed out in as level a voice as she could manage.

"I know! But I thought that straight girls came here too." Jesse replied, his eyes trained on a couple of girls who were engaged in a heated make out session at the table nearest them.

"They do, but they probably think you're gay too." Beca nudged him, breaking his stare that was starting to border on creepy.

"Hey!" Jesse protested as Beca chuckled softly.

"You're wearing a pink shirt."

"It's salmon!" Jesse 's voice rose just as a girl who had previously been checking him out walked by, her eyebrows raising at his outburst. Always one to capitalise on an opportunity Beca mouthed the word 'gay' at the girl, jerking her head in Jesse's direction and offering her a cheeky wink. The girl blushed visibly even in the dark of the bar before walking away, making sure to hold Beca's gaze the entire time. Jesse watched the whole exchange with a slack jaw.

"You _always_ do that to me!"

"You didn't have to come." Beca's gaze was back scanning the bar.

"You were bailing on our movie night! When you suggested we go to a bar instead I figured we'd be going somewhere there were equal opportunities for both of us to get laid, not just you!"

"Do you want me to get that bartender back over here to take a look at your ID?" Beca's tolerance for Jesse's sulking was low at the best of times and tonight it was dangerously close to running out, especially as he was distracting her from her self-imposed mission.

"No, there's no need for that." Jesse clutched his drink a little tighter and cast a couple of glances up the length of the bar. Beca had used her charm to convince the girl behind the bar to turn a blind eye to Jesse's ID.

"Good. Now stop complaining and enjoy yourself. I'll be back soon." Draining the rest of her whiskey Beca placed her glass back on the bar and headed off in the direction the girl from a few moments earlier had taken.

An hour later and Beca was still searching for someone to spend the evening with. The girl she had followed into the crowd had been sweet and eager, but it had quickly transpired that she was a little too eager, the insistence they go on a date the following evening to get to know each other better that had Beca immediately backing away, guiding the girl easily back to Jesse before making herself scarce. The last she had seen the pair they had been talking intently with one another, heads close together.

Back by the bar Beca leant against the wood, an exasperated sigh escaping her. She was being unusually picky; no girl she had spoken to seemed to capture her attention. She was resolutely ignoring the small voice in her head that nagged that none of these girls were the ones she was thinking about. There were a fair few redheads in the bar but Beca had steered well clear, the memory of what had happened last time she had gone home with a redhead still horribly fresh in her mind. No, Beca was here to forget about redheads, one in particular, and it was with grim determination that she resumed her search.

Her efforts were rewarded a few moments later when a tall blonde with legs that seemed to go on forever and a body perfectly accentuated by her right fitting black dress leant against the bar next to Beca. The blonde's eyes flicked up and down the small DJ's form appreciatively. Beca allowed herself a self-satisfied smirk before moving to engage the woman in conversation, within a couple of minutes she found herself being dragged out onto the dance floor.

Once out on the dance floor Beca allowed her mind to clear of all thoughts and focus on the music and the body swaying in from of her. The blonde was a great dancer and Beca found she didn't need to do much work, their bodies moved together well and it wasn't long before their lips met in a heated kiss. This was what Beca had needed, a night to find her groove again which had been oddly off as of late, the reasons why were not something Beca was in a hurry to explore.

They broke apart a few moments later, the blonde moved her lips to Beca's ear.

"Buy me a drink? Then I want to take you home." She was forward and Beca liked that, treating the girl to one of her trademark smirks she led her back over to the bar. Flagging down the barmaid she caught eyes with Jesse who was also fetching drinks, he shot her a grin and a thumbs up before jerking his head back to where the girl was waiting for him. Beca rolled her eyes but returned his smile, thankful she had managed to distract him, he had an unfortunate habit of getting in the way if left to his own devices.

Beca was paying for the drinks when she heard a voice shouting her name from beside her, looking round in confusion she spotted Cynthia Rose standing a few feet away. Beca grinned at the other girl, she was one of the few Bella's she actually had time for and waved. Cynthia Rose returned the gestures, eyebrows raising in appreciation when she saw Beca's companion.

"Do you want a drink?" Beca was feeling particularly generous that evening, mostly because her plan was working. Cynthia Rose shook her head and after giving Beca another grin disappeared off into the crowd with a girl who looked suspiciously like one of the other Bella's. Beca thought her name might begin with a D, she wondered briefly if Aubrey knew about it before shoving the thought to the back of her mind. She had more important things to think about.

If the things the blonde is whispering in her ear on the taxi ride back to the girl's apartment are anything to go by Beca knows she's in for a very interesting night, all thoughts of a certain redhead banished from her mind.

For now.

* * *

Chloe was grumpy. Well as grumpy as someone of her sunny disposition could be, for Chloe being grumpy meant that her smile stretched a little shorter than usual and she gave a few less hugs. Most people didn't even realise when she was in a mood because the change was so minimal. Only those who knew Chloe exceptionally well were able to detect these changes.

Aubrey had guessed right away of course.

Her best friend had an eagle eye and the moment Chloe had set foot in the kitchen she had demanded to know what was bothering her, even going so far as to make her a cup of coffee unprompted. Chloe had cited school work and the stress of practice as the source of her mood, even though by all accounts those things were both progressing quite well. Even Aubrey had to admit that most of the girl's now had a good enough grasp of the choreography and the singing had improved vastly.

The truth was that Chloe's uncharacteristic grumpiness had nothing to with the Bella's as a whole, more one Bella in particular.

It had been a week and Chloe had not been able to get the kiss out of her mind. It hadn't been the best kiss that Chloe had ever had, far from it, it had been messy and angry. But passionate, intense and real. Chloe was in no doubt that the Beca she had seen in the empty classroom that day had been the real Beca, the one hidden behind all the layers of sarcasm. She was angry and vulnerable, Chloe had seen it in her eyes, whatever she had been arguing with her father about was clearly something that affected her deeply, something that had happened that she still wasn't over.

Now more than ever Chloe wanted to find out what had happened to Beca.

Normally Chloe would have confronted the situation, she was never one to shy away from a difficult conversation, but Beca's words before the kiss had hurt, more than Chloe had imagined. Chloe knew that she was accommodating, she liked for people to be happy and would do whatever it took to make sure that the people around her had what they wanted, even if it sometimes meant her own wants and needs took a back seat. Chloe would never apologise for being nice and she knew that the other girl had just been lashing out to distract attention from her but the words had stung. Try as she might Chloe had not been able to shake the anger at Beca and had chosen to distance herself from the smaller girl in practice. She hadn't missed some of the looks Beca had sent her way and she knew that the DJ was wondering why she hadn't wanted to talk about what happened.

That had all changed yesterday.

Chloe hadn't been intending on working one on one with Beca, still needing the distance, but when Aubrey had started laying into Beca she'd acted without thinking, the need to defend the small brunette outweighing her anger for the moment, it seemed to be a knee jerk reaction when it came to Beca.

She wasn't sure what had prompted her to place her lips to Beca's skin, all Chloe knew was that when she was this close to Beca it was hard to remember why she was angry, why she'd wanted to keep her distance in the first place. All she knew is that she quite liked see Beca get flustered and with the memory of the kiss strong in her mind the redhead had been bolder than perhaps she would normally have been.

She should have expected Beca to respond, what Chloe hadn't expected was her body's response to Beca's actions. White hot desire had flooded through Chloe's body as Beca's hips rolled against her own and she had quickly wished that Beca would do it again, her request was granted a mere few seconds later and Chloe knew that she was seconds away from taking Beca right there and then.

Thankfully they had both collected themselves things had been allowed to progress further. With the space Chloe was able to think clearly again and she realised just how much being close to Beca Mitchell affected her.

That was why Chloe was grumpy, she didn't know if she should be angry or not with the small infuriating DJ. The conflicting emotions were not something that she was used too and she didn't like it, not at all.

There were still a few minutes before practice started and Chloe was already in the gym doing her warm up exercises. The other girls were trickling in and she greeted each of them with an enthusiastic greeting, albeit slightly less so than her normal ones. None of the girls seemed to notice, except Aubrey who shot her a concerned look as she started her own warm up.

Beca was naturally the last Bella to arrive and Chloe could see immediately that she was hungover and tired. Dark bags hung heavy under her eyes and she carried herself with the sluggishness of someone who'd been dragged out of sleep not long ago.

The brunette made no move to greet any of the Bella's dropping her bag to the floor and carefully removing her headphones from around her neck and putting them away. Anyone who did greet her was greeted with a grunt and it wasn't until Cynthia Rose spoke up that she actually formulated a worded response.

"You look tired Beca, late night with that blonde was it?" everyone's heads except Aubrey and Chloe's turned in Beca's direction, although Chloe was definitely listening as intently as the other girls.

"Which blonde is this?" Fat Amy nudged Beca heavily with her shoulder, almost sending the smaller girl tumbling to the floor.

"I saw Beca last night in a bar, in the company of a very attractive blonde. Couldn't keep her hands off our little Bella here." Cynthia Rose teased. Beca rolled her eyes, but there was a satisfied smirk on her face that Chloe could see out of corner of her eye that for some reason annoyed her far more than it should have done.

"Well, she was pretty cool." Beca shrugged. "We had a good time."

"A very good time from the looks of things." Stacie pointed to a spot on Beca's neck and as Chloe turned round she could see the very prominent hickey adorning left side of Beca's neck. The sight of this and Beca's returned smirk had Chloe bristling in annoyance, the fact she couldn't pin point exactly why she was annoyed furthering her anger. Of course Beca could sleep with who she wanted, Chloe had known that Beca slept around since their first meeting. It was a mystery to her why this particular incident was prompting such a strong reaction.

"When you've quite finished discussing your personal lives we have a practice to start." The cold words came not from Aubrey but from Chloe's own mouth and she was surprised at how harsh they sounded. She wasn't the only one, all the other Bella's were looking at her with varying mixtures of shock etched on their faces, it was the first time most of them had ever heard Chloe speak in a voice that wasn't happy and light. Aubrey looked concerned, she could count the number of times on one hand that she had seen Chloe's face take on the hard line it had now. Beca, who was bearing the brunt of Chloe's stony gaze merely looked bewildered, eyes searching Chloe's face for a reason behind her complete change in mood.

Chloe didn't stand still long enough for her to find it, opting to move away and start the music, giving the girl's no option but to scramble into place behind her. Aubrey placed a hand briefly on her best friend's shoulder as she passed, eyes still sparkling with concern.

Chloe avoided Beca's gaze for the rest of practice, despite being able to feel the brunettes eyes on her several times during the two-hour session. Instead she worked hard to try and push the irrational annoyance from her system, Chloe was usually very rational and this side of her was arguing that the only reason she was annoyed at Beca was because of their kiss the week before. Despite being short and knowing full well how many people Beca kissed there was a small part of Chloe that believed that maybe a connection had before formed even if Beca's reaction to the kiss had been negative to say the least. It shouldn't have come as a surprise that Beca had already moved onto someone else. Chloe knew that Beca had wanted to talk about the kiss the day before, but she hadn't wanted to hear the words, hadn't wanted to hear that it had been a mistake, that she regretted it.

Because Chloe didn't.

When practice finished Chloe turned down all suggestions of food and excused herself as politely as she could, desperate just to get back to her flat and be alone. She left the room as quickly as she could, all the while feeling a pair of eyes boring into her back.

* * *

Chloe's mood improved over the next couple of days, this was more due to the rapidly approaching Christmas break than anything else. As much as she loved Barden and all the people there, especially the Bella's who had become like a second family to her, there was nothing like going to see her family for the Holiday's. Chloe loved all things Christmas, as she did all holiday's, she loved the way for a whole month of the year the world seemed just a bit more magical. It was this excitement which had pushed her annoyance of the past few days away until it was nothing more than a distance memory. Chloe had never been one to wallow, she preferred to tackle problems head on, eliminating the need for any ill feeling. That was why she had decided very quickly that the next time she saw Beca she would smooth things over.

Her chance came quicker than she had anticipated.

The next day after her Russian Literature class Chloe was hurrying down the steps of the building, so preoccupied with trying to stuff her textbook into her bag that she didn't see Beca coming up the steps until she crashed into her.

"Oh Jesus Christ!" Beca cried as the coffee cup balanced in her hands wobbled dangerously, threatening to spill hot liquid all over her.

"I'm sorry." Chloe tried to stifle her giggles as Beca angrily huffed and brushed at her shirt. Looking up the small brunette readjusted her beanie which had almost slipped down over her eyes.

"Should have realised it'd be you." Beca muttered looking up at Chloe.

"It's our thing." Chloe replied brightly. "We bump into each other."

"We don't need a thing." Beca grumbled. "Or we at least need to find one which doesn't include grievous bodily harm."

"I'm sure we can find something." The words weren't meant to sound seductive, Beca swallowed visibly and her eyes flitted down to Chloe's briefly before she cleared her throat and looked away, grunting her response, lapsing back into her usual silence.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about something." Chloe said a moment later, right as Beca said.

"Listen there's err something I wanted to say…"

"Oh sorry you first." Chloe hiked her bag further up her shoulder as Beca scuffed her feet nervously.

"No you."

"Right, well I just thought we should maybe you know talk about what happened last week." Chloe watched Beca's face for signs that the other girl was going to run. She was surprised when Beca took a deep breath, as if steeling herself and nodded.

"Yeah I guess so; I mean we have to see each other every day. We probably shouldn't make things awkward or anything."

"They don't' have to be awkward, I mean I wanted to apologise as well. I should never have been listening outside the door."

"It's ok, I mean I probably should have handled it a little better." Beca admitted softly. "I probably shouldn't have shouted at you like I did." She rubbed her neck awkwardly and Chloe could see just how uncomfortable the conversation was making her.

"It's ok really." Chloe offered Beca a reassuring smile. "Then there was…other thing."

"Yeah. That." Beca's eyes were moving so quickly to not be looking at Chloe it was a wonder they had vibrated right out of her skull.

"I just wanted to say that we can put it behind us? We don't need to talk about it anymore, it happened, but we're both adults we can move on from it and not let it have an impact on our friendship. Deal?"

"Yeah deal." Beca looked very relieved not to have to add anything to the conversation, offering Chloe a grateful smile.

"Good!" Chloe beamed and opened her arms. "Hug it out?" Beca looked suspiciously at her hands, clearly unwilling to enter the embrace. When she realised that Chloe wasn't going to back down she sighed heavily and stepped forward allowing the redhead to wrap her arms tightly round her. She fought not to smile when she felt Chloe sigh happily, leaning her cheek against the top of Beca's head.

She also tried not to think too much about the fact that she quite enjoyed the feeling of Chloe's arms around her.

It seemed that maybe her plan hadn't worked as well as she thought it had.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed that! Let me know what you thought by leaving me a review! I know this chapter was a little bit shorter and more of a filler chapter but things are going to start to move forward from here. In the next chapter the Bella's have a Christmas party.**

 **Until next time!**

 **Pirate-x-Girls**


End file.
